Genius Playground

The principle behind it was still a mystery for now.

But it seemed the function of the Positron Cannon 2.0 (battle-damaged version) was to fling his consciousness to September 17, 2045, and it was always precisely 10 a.m.

As for all the unreasonable and illogical parts, he’d just have to study them slowly later.

Two seconds later, the discomfort vanished.

His feet hit solid ground. The air was damp. Without even opening his eyes, Jiang Ran knew he was back in that familiar, narrow, and dimly lit little cell.

”Do you know what the most important part of a successful prison break is?”

Sang Biao, in the next cell, spoke the same line right on cue, just like an NPC.

”The escape itself.”

Jiang Ran cut in with the answer:

”If you don’t even have the guts to try, how can you possibly succeed?”

”Holy shit!”

Sang Biao exclaimed from Cell 1:

”Who the hell is the master next door! When’d you get thrown in here?”

”That’s not important.”

Jiang Ran walked up to the iron bars and rapped on the steel pipes.

”Sang Biao, open up!”

...

A few minutes later, the five-man escape team was assembled.

Sang Biao, the stupid young man, the Bookworm, and the Assassin stood in a line, looking at the mysterious man before them with a mixture of confusion and trepidation. They wanted to ask questions but didn’t dare, waiting for him to speak first.

It couldn’t be helped.

The guy’s alpha-dog aura was just too strong.

He seemed like he was born for prison; being here was like a homecoming for him.

”Gentlemen.”

Jiang Ran surveyed them from left to right, as if inspecting troops.

”Before the escape, I’d like to ask you all a few questions.”

Sang Biao swallowed hard.

”Go ahead.”

”Do any of you remember any major world events from 2025?”

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Ran added,

”It doesn’t even have to be a major world event. News, gossip, scandals, social media trends... anything will do.”

”Preferably something from the second half of 2025. It’s okay if your memory is hazy; just tell me what you can, and I’ll help you figure it out.”

When he finished speaking,

The four men across from him just stared at one another, completely dumbfounded.

They had no idea what this young man was up to.

”2025? That was twenty years ago! I was just a little brat back then!”

The stupid young man wasn’t one for deep thought.

”Besides, lookin’ at your age, you probably weren’t even born twenty years ago, right? Why do you care about stuff from so long ago?”

The Bookworm pushed up his glasses.

”I do recall one thing. There was actually a major event in the scientific community in 2025.”

”I’m absolutely certain of it. The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for the ’Quantum Tunneling effect.’”

”Sigh, you’ve touched a sore spot. I’m only in here because I got too deep into researching that very theory.”

Jiang Ran looked at the Bookworm.

’Quantum Tunneling?’

’Was that what the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was for?’

’As I recall, the Nobel Prizes are announced around October each year. In his world line, it was only late May 2025, just a few days before June.’

”Quantum Tunneling... I remember that’s a term related to chip fabrication, isn’t it?”

Jiang Ran wasn’t an expert on the subject, but he knew a little.

”I think the idea is that when CPU chip fabrication gets below three nanometers, electrons start exhibiting the Quantum Tunneling effect, which tanks the yield rate. It’s pretty much the sign that Moore’s Law has hit its limit for humanity.”

”Correct.”

The Bookworm nodded, smiling at Jiang Ran.

”I’m surprised you know so much. But the significance of Quantum Tunneling goes beyond that. The bigger reason it was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was that—”

”’Though it’s a phenomenon that should only exist in the quantum realm, it can be replicated in the macroscopic world, which is a revolutionary development for macrophysics.’”

Jiang Ran cut the Bookworm off.

”Was there anything else in 2025?”

’He wasn’t here for a lecture. If he wanted one, he could find them all over East Sea University.’

’He just wanted to find some ”future information” that could be verified immediately, or at least soon.’

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was certainly a powerful piece of evidence. If the final announcement matched what the Bookworm said, he could conclude with a high degree of certainty that this 2045 prison was the real future.

The problem was...

The Nobel Prize wouldn’t be announced until October.

It was too far off to be of any immediate help.

The Bookworm shrugged helplessly, spreading his hands.

”I really can’t remember anything else. Twenty years is just too long ago, after all.”

At this, he couldn’t help but sigh, tilting his head back to look at the dim lightbulb.

”After being in a place like this for so long, you feel like your brain turns to mush. I can’t remember a lot of things anymore.”

”2025... it feels so long ago. Back then, I was still a professor at East Sea University.”

?

Jiang Ran’s head snapped up.

”What did you say?”

He couldn’t help but size up the Bookworm, with his head of white hair and wrinkled face.

”You were a professor at East Sea University?!”

Beside them, the Assassin also looked at the Bookworm, rather surprised.

”In all this time, how come you never mentioned that?”

The Bookworm pushed up his glasses and gave a sighing sort of laugh.

”You never asked. No point in me bringing up the past, is there? Just makes a man feel worse.”

”Professor! Which school were you in!”

Jiang Ran hurried forward, moving closer to the light to get a better look at the Bookworm.

’On World Line 0, he’d been a student at East Sea University for two years, but he’d never really interacted with a professor this old.’

’But then he remembered this was 2045... twenty years after 2025.’

’Which meant!’

’Twenty years ago, the Bookworm would have been in the prime of his life!’

Jiang Ran stared at the old, wrinkled face, quickly running a comparison in his mind.

”I was in the School of Physics.”

The Bookworm raised his head, his eyes meeting Jiang Ran’s.

As he lifted his head into the light, Jiang Ran saw a hint of a familiar contour in the man’s features.

He couldn’t help but take a sharp breath, grabbing the back of the Bookworm’s rough hand.

”Professor... you couldn’t possibly be...”

The Bookworm’s glasses had slipped down his nose. He squinted at Jiang Ran.

”What is it? Do you know me?”

He swallowed, pushing his glasses back up.

”My name...”

”...is Zhang Yang.”