Genius Playground

This would also explain why Qin Feng left his home and has been in hiding all these years—

’Because the person who killed his father didn’t get the Identity Coin, they’d surely keep hunting Qin Feng!’

It would also explain why, in the Future Prison in the year 2045, Qin Feng was executed by beheading—

’Because Qin Feng was eventually caught and framed with a series of trumped-up charges, turning him into the so-called world’s number one criminal, a public enemy of mankind!’

But... who was the one who ultimately caught and convicted Qin Feng?

Priest Wu Yuanzheng?

Or was it one of the Genius Playground members currently hunting Qin Feng?

Jiang Ran took a step back.

He looked at the names of the Genius Playground members listed on the blackboard. He didn’t understand what these people were fighting for, what purpose this life-or-death struggle served.

According to his Setting Collection, the Genius Playground was a game played by 11 geniuses...

So, what was the prize for winning the game?

’Qin Feng, can’t you just give me back that Setting Collection?’

Jiang Ran sighed.

’He’s already stolen it and read it. Besides, the Qin Feng from World Line No. 1 isn’t my enemy, so why can’t he just give it back?’

His intuition told him.

That Setting Collection must hold the truth and answers to many things.

’Whatever, I’ll put that aside for now.’

’Qin Feng has his plan, and I have mine.’

’Right now, the priority is to find a way to save Xiaoxue.’

He picked up the eraser, wiped the board clean, and wrote down the two possible paths to saving Cheng Mengxue:

[1. Repair the Positron Cannon to restore its ability to send Time SMS.]

This was the most efficient and direct method, but also the most difficult.

If he could fix the Positron Cannon and send a Time SMS two years into the past, he could easily help Cheng Mengxue avoid the car crash.

But the problem was... how to fix it?

For now, it seemed the only way was to go back to the source. He had to find the members of the 2005 Film Club to get any clues.

[2. Find Lu Yu and use his genius brain to build a Time Travel Machine.]

The Time Travel Machine operated on a different principle from the Positron Cannon; it was a device that sent an entire person to a point in the past.

If he could build it, he could save Cheng Mengxue all the same. Worst case, he could personally travel two years into the past and put her back on track to take her college entrance exams.

’Alright, this is my main quest from now on.’

Jiang Ran snapped a piece of chalk between his fingers, solidifying his plan for the foreseeable future.

’And in the meantime...’

His gaze fell on the cardboard box behind the shelf, where the Positron Cannon was hidden.

Because of the surveillance from those Rhine Cat dolls, Jiang Ran hadn’t gone to 2045 in a long time.

Now that the danger had passed, he was understandably eager.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Chi Xiaoguo, arranging to meet at the Film Club room that evening.

Chi Xiaoguo replied with an ”OK” sticker and said she’d recently found some more clues about artifacts from the Film Club’s early days, which she could share with him tonight.

’President Xiaoguo really is reliable.’

Even before summer break, Chi Xiaoguo had compiled a file on the Film Club’s history. Jiang Ran had looked through it during the vacation, planning to search for the Positron Cannon and clues about the alumni with her after school started.

But plans rarely survive contact with reality. Cheng Mengxue’s sudden appearance had thrown a wrench in everything, putting that plan on hold.

He was touched that Chi Xiaoguo had not only remembered but had also been quietly investigating on her own.

He walked over to the bookshelf and picked up the file Chi Xiaoguo had compiled.

He opened it.

Tucked between the pages was the group photo of the 2005 Film Club members that he’d happened upon.

Jiang Ran took it out and placed it on the desk to examine it.

He had actually looked at this yellowed photo many times last semester. Aside from the Positron Cannon in the corner, there was almost no other useful information.

Something must have gone wrong when the picture was taken, because the entire top half was completely overexposed. A sea of white light obscured the three students’ faces, making it impossible to see what the alumni looked like.

The only discernible details were that the ”rocker guy” on the left had shoulder-length hair, and the man and woman on the right were clearly a couple.

Still...

Since this photo was taken in 2005, twenty years ago, the three dashing young people in it must have become middle-aged office drones by now, having long lost their youthful charm.

’Time spares no one.’

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but marvel at how time was a cruel carving knife. It didn’t just change one’s life, it also wore down a person’s sharp edges, making them lose all their youthful fire as they dissolved into the great dyeing vat of society.

Twenty years had passed. He wondered if the couple had married and had children, and if they were still as in love as they were then.

He wondered if the long-haired rocker was bald now, and if he could still rock on with a beer belly.

’It’s a shame. The age of rock is over.’

These days, the pop music scene was basically a three-way split between rap, abstract music, and sad love songs. Where was there any room left for rock?

Slipping the botched photo back into the notebook, Jiang Ran checked the time on his phone and headed for the university’s main gate.

Today, besides his plan to activate the Positron Cannon with Chi Xiaoguo that night, he had another important task.

And that was—

Teacher Zhang Yang was finally being discharged from the hospital!

More than a month had passed, and his injuries had mostly healed. He could walk with a crutch without any problem.

As the Sect’s head disciple, Jiang Ran naturally had to go to the hospital to pick up his master.

He left the campus, hailed a cab, and arrived at the East Sea University First Affiliated Hospital, where he went up to Zhang Yang’s room.

Teacher Zhang’s wife had already packed up all their bags and belongings. The car was parked downstairs; they just needed to carry everything down.

”Eldest Disciple! Quick, give your master his crutch!”

Teacher Zhang Yang was as flippant as ever. Or perhaps, having been cooped up in the hospital for so long, he was just exceptionally high-spirited now that he was finally free.

Jiang Ran picked up the Iron Crutch from against the wall and walked toward the hospital bed.

”Teacher Zhang, you really need to be more careful from now on. At your age, you shouldn’t be messing around with something as dangerous as a motorcycle.”

”Tch! It’s nothing!”

Zhang Yang looked completely unrepentant.

”I’ve already toned it down a lot. Back in my youth, *that* was what you’d call crazy. Riding a motorcycle was like flying a plane!”

”And you’re proud of it?” Jiang Ran was speechless.

”Heh heh.”

Teacher Zhang’s wife, who was packing up, chuckled softly.

”Jiang Ran, you might not be able to tell, but your Teacher Zhang was a completely different person in college. He was never serious, had long hair, wore bell-bottoms, and was always shaking his head to some rhythm.”

”For real...?”

Jiang Ran looked at Zhang Yang in disbelief.

”You have an embarrassing past like that?”

”Hey! What are you talking about? That’s not an embarrassing past! That’s called youth!”

Zhang Yang rubbed the back of his head, which was starting to bald a little.

”Sigh... speaking of which, I really miss my long hair from my college days. Too bad when I went to the Longke Institute, Teacher Gao Yan held my head down and shaved it all off.”

Huh?

Jiang Ran suddenly froze.

Wait a minute!

He suddenly realized something. Teacher Zhang Yang had done his undergrad at East Sea University... Add that to the bell-bottoms, the shoulder-length hair, the earlier bragging about being popular with girls in college and wanting to teach Jiang Ran a few tricks—

Jiang Ran tossed the Iron Crutch aside and rushed over!

”Crutch, crutch, crutch, crutch!” Zhang Yang gestured frantically with his hands.

But who had time to worry about that now?!

”Teacher Zhang!”

Jiang Ran sat on the edge of the bed.

”Were you at East Sea University in 2005?”

”Of course I was.”

Zhang Yang was puzzled.

”I started at East Sea University in 2004, so I was a sophomore in 2005.”

”Then what club were you in back then?” Jiang Ran asked urgently.

”Heh, don’t tell me you think I was in the rock club?”

Zhang Yang chuckled.

”It’s true I had a band at the university back then, but I didn’t join the rock club. Because in those days, every musician was incredibly arrogant. We never would have been able to get along.”

”But you’ll never guess what club I was actually in. I joined it mainly to hang out with two very good friends of mine.”

”Now that was a club with a real story behind it. The three of us really did have some good times there.”

As he spoke of his youth, Teacher Zhang Yang’s eyes filled with nostalgia.

”That club was probably shut down ages ago. You’ve definitely never heard of it. Its name was—”

”The Film Club!”