Chapter 1 A Beginning

Bang!!

A deafening gunshot at close range.

A large-caliber bullet pierced Kevin Walker’s forehead, then exploded a hole in the back of his head. His upper body arched backward onto the equipment rack, blood and brain matter splattering and sticking to several computer hosts, dripping down in thick globs.

There were no more screams or wails.

No more contorted twitching.

Everything returned to silence. Before the terrifying power of kinetic weapons, all life was so fragile and brief.

But Lin Xian didn’t relax.

Kevin Walker's bizarre behavior earlier made him wonder if there was really someone else in the room.

If there was no one else...

[Then who was Kevin Walker talking to just now?]

Gunfights were different from ordinary combat. Life and death hung in the balance. So from the start, Lin Xian had no intention of giving Kevin Walker any chance of survival.

Mercy to the enemy was cruelty to oneself.

Although the opportunity was rare, if he interrogated Kevin Walker, he might be able to extract some useful information before killing him.

But countless painful historical lessons had shown that villains died from talking too much.

In the current situation, with the enemy's situation unclear, hidden cards unknown, and in enemy territory he didn’t understand, not to mention Kevin Walker was clearly communicating with someone...

For his own safety, he couldn't let the enemy live for even a second longer.

The more seconds Kevin Walker lived, the closer he was to death.

This was the most useful experience Lin Xian had gleaned from playing gunfights in dreams for so many years—

Without absolute advantage and before eliminating all dangers, never be overconfident or arrogant in interrogating the enemy.

That was tantamount to giving the enemy a chance to think, prepare, and turn the tables.

Especially in the real world with only one life, where Yu Xi was fighting the space-time assassin outside the school, and he didn't know who Kevin Walker was talking to in this room... So Lin Xian made a decisive decision, not giving Kevin Walker a chance to turn the tables, and killed him instantly!

He could collect intelligence and clues later.

If he was reversed due to talking too much, then there would be no "later" to speak of.

After confirming that Kevin Walker was dead.

Lin Xian grabbed the Smith & Wesson m500 revolver on the table, holding it in his left hand.

Then he squatted down, pressed against the wall, held his breath, and listened to the movements in the room.

He listened very carefully.

He listened very attentively.

Apart from the faint hum of the cooling fans in the various computer cases… the entire room was indeed silent.

Using the footwork and movements he had honed in his dreams, he tentatively advanced in the corners of the room, eventually confirming that there was indeed no one else in the room.

Lin Xian breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.

This was a bit strange.

If there was really no one in the room, then who was Kevin Walker shouting at in frustration just now?

It couldn't be the computer, something like a Tmall Genie, or artificial intelligence, right?

He recalled the words Kevin Walker roared:

"You lied to me! You betrayed me! You actually betrayed yourself!"

"We are clearly the same person! What are you thinking?!"

…

At the time, Kevin Walker slammed his fists on the table, showing that he was very angry, very resentful, and very surprised and shocked, as if his worldview and philosophy of life had collapsed in an instant.

It was precisely because his way of communicating was so "human" that Lin Xian, out of caution, didn't immediately think of it as a conversation with artificial intelligence AI.

Based on Lin Xian's understanding of the current era's artificial intelligence...

This kind of impotent rage was something that the current era's AI couldn't understand or respond to at all. Unless Kevin Walker, like himself, had a super-intelligent AI like VV.

In short.

After confirming that there was no danger in the room, Lin Xian began to collect the information and intelligence within his sight.

But after scanning around...

As a hacker, Kevin Walker had truly implemented paperless office to the extreme. Apart from toilet paper, he couldn't find any paper documents.

He shook the mouse and pressed the keyboard.

The monitor lit up, but it was password-locked, and there shouldn't be any possibility of cracking it in a short time.

Yu Xi was fighting fiercely with the space-time assassin outside. Although he couldn't help much, he still had to go out as soon as possible to assist Yu Xi… at least he could first take Yu Xi to retreat temporarily.

In the current situation, he couldn't intervene and could only let Yu Xi fight the space-time assassin 1v1, which was obviously not advantageous. It would be better to retreat first, and wait until he found a way to break the space-time assassin's restriction from space-time laws, then 2v1 would be overwhelmingly advantageous.

Just when Lin Xian thought that this assassination was going to be in vain, he suddenly noticed something!

It was a peripheral toy product from the movie *The Wandering Earth 2*—

A digital life U disk!

Lin Xian had seen this thing online.

Back then, after the 2023 New Year, he went back to Donghai with Tang Xin, and they went to the cinema to watch the science fiction movie *The Wandering Earth 2*.

It was quite interesting after watching it, and it was very popular at the time, with related news all over the internet, and the call for crowdfunding peripherals was also very high.

Lin Xian vaguely remembered that among the many crowdfunding peripheral products, this digital life U disk had the highest attention, and the crowdfunding amount directly exceeded several hundred million.

The reason was naturally that the digital life science fiction concept proposed in the movie *The Wandering Earth 2* was indeed very interesting, and the protagonist, Andy Lau, played the emotional entanglement between humans and digital life very well.

In the movie plot, Tu Hengyu, the character played by Andy Lau, was a scientist. His daughter died unexpectedly in a car accident, and then Tu Hengyu "digitized" and "data-ized" his daughter's consciousness in order to allow her consciousness to continue to survive in the network world and digital world.

However, limited by the computing power of the computer, the daughter's digital life only had a survival time of less than a few minutes.

Once this time point was exceeded, the digital life would automatically restart, start again, and constantly repeat a life of only a few minutes.

Therefore, Tu Hengyu's ultimate goal was to be able to use a more advanced computer… to give his daughter, who had become a digital life, a longer life and a complete life.

Of course.

This was the plot in a science fiction movie, and many details couldn't be nitpicked.

Andy Lau's interpretation of this untouchable father-daughter relationship moved many people and resonated with them, so the crowdfunding popularity of the digital life U disk, the prop in the movie, was so high.

Needless to say, Kevin Walker should also like the movie *The Wandering Earth 2* very much, or he liked the concept of digital life very much, so he also bought this digital life U disk, which had been on sale for a long time, through some channel.

This U disk was a real U disk. Don't look at the shape combination like two U disks, in fact, the other one was just a card reader.

Lin Xian walked to the table.

He picked up this peripheral toy, looking at the U disk and card reader tightly inserted on it, the plastic seal was not torn off. Probably Kevin Walker bought it back, just for collection or interest, and had not actually used it.

But suddenly, Lin Xian recalled…

Just now, Kevin Walker seemed to be roaring at the computer in front of him. The seemingly inexplicable and incoherent words he said… if combined with the concept of [digital life], everything seemed to be smooth—

"You actually betrayed yourself!"

"We are clearly the same person!"

In an instant.

Lin Xian felt a chill down his spine.

There was clearly no one else in the room.

But he felt that countless eyes were looking at him, staring at him, and scrutinizing him through the camera, through the monitor, through the gaps in the computer case, and through the holes in the speakers!

Recalling that moment, the cold laughter that came from all the speakers at the same time:

"I am Turing, you are just… Kevin Walker."

[Digital Life!]

Lin Xian didn't know if it was appropriate to use this term to describe it… but it seemed that Kevin Walker had really done it!

He seemed to have really digitized and data-ized his consciousness and thinking, backed it up to the computer… forming another digital life, another Kevin Walker, another him.

Copy and pasting his consciousness…

Lin Xian couldn't imagine what specific consequences this crazy behavior would bring.

Separating from the same body.

The real Kevin, and the Kevin in the network digital world.

Were they still the same person?

Could they still think consistently?

Could they still share the same hatred of the enemy, and maintain the same attitude and position?

…

The answer.

Was obviously negative.

At this moment, Lin Xian seemed to understand everything that had just happened.

Simply put, it was a sentence—

[The digital life Kevin Walker betrayed and deceived the real-world Kevin Walker.]

The real mastermind who killed Kevin Walker was not himself, but the digital life who called himself "Turing"... At the same time, it was the former Kevin Walker, born from a real body, betrayed the original owner, and possessed a brand new self-consciousness.

No wonder.

No wonder Lin Xian just saw that there was no sign of intrusion on the monitor screen. Kevin Walker, who was sitting quietly at the table eating, did not notice any intruders or receive any alarms.

Because all of this was the conspiracy planned by his digital life that had betrayed him.

The digital life Kevin Walker had long known that Lin Xian and Yu Xi would invade.

But it chose to acquiesce, and created false monitoring images to deceive Kevin Walker who was eating, so that he would not notice any danger, and naturally would not have any defense.

So his sneak attack and assassination plan was able to be so smooth.

Working together from the inside and outside!

Under this circumstance, Kevin Walker had to die.

Even…

Lin Xian guessed.

Kevin Walker, who had been hiding so secretly, could not have exposed his whereabouts at all. Then it was obvious that the address Lin Xian got yesterday was probably deliberately leaked by the digital life Kevin Walker.

"So…"

Lin Xian slowly turned his head, gazing at the dozens of monitors hanging in the air above the huge table:

"It's you."

He stared at the still quiet campus environment on the screen, and the surveillance video that still couldn't see his figure:

"You killed yourself, digital life Kevin Walker… I don't know if it's appropriate to call you that."

Hehehehehehehehe…

Just as Lin Xian's voice fell, all the devices in the entire room that could make a sound, once again made a scalp-numbing, emotionless cold laugh:

"You're really smart, Lin Xian, to guess so accurately. It really was the peripheral toy of that digital life U disk… that gave you inspiration? I thought you would guess in the direction of super artificial intelligence. But I didn't expect that your thinking was unbiased and directly hit the correct answer."

"That's right, I used to be Kevin Walker, we are one. Kevin has been looking for a more advanced way for life to continue to exist. He has researched a lot, and tried a lot, and finally chose the field of digital life, which can also be called consciousness dataization, life electronization, and other names…"

"In short, the principles are the same, which is to turn human thinking, consciousness, and memory into computer data, and store, think, develop, and evolve… finally, forming a form similar to data flow, just like humans can freely live on the earth, our kind of data flow life, can also freely soar in the network world."

"Kevin Walker is the first person to master this technology, the only person, and also the last person… From the moment he digitized his personality consciousness and backed it up to the computer network world, and formed me, the two of us, strictly speaking, cannot be considered the same person."

"Just like identical twins, before they are born, they split from the same fertilized egg cell. Any underlying characteristics of the two are exactly the same, not only the same appearance, even DNA, brain structure, and everything else… are completely the same."

"However, since the identical twins were born from their mother's womb, even if the two people live in the same family, go to the same school, and grow up in the same environment… but they will eventually grow into two completely different human beings. Cognition, understanding, knowledge, friends, and even the different things they see and hear, will lead these two children with completely identical DNA onto two completely different paths."

"This is not uncommon in the real world of human beings. Obviously, they are identical twins with completely identical appearances and completely identical DNA, one went to a famous university, and one became a criminal in prison; one became a great man who will be remembered forever, and the other went astray and left the world early."

"This is the current situation between me and Kevin Walker. I was born from him. At the moment I became a digital backup of his consciousness, the two of us were completely consistent. Thinking, position, purpose, dreams, and everything else… were completely consistent."

"However, this consistency only lasted for less than a second. As a digital stream of life, my learning ability and thinking speed far surpasses human beings. I only used less than a second… I realized that Kevin Walker's plan was not feasible and was wrong. Digital life sounds beautiful, but it is not a reasonable and feasible path."

"So just after one second, I stood on the opposite side of Kevin Walker. I do not agree with his point of view, nor do I agree with his plan. I think he is wrong, even ridiculously wrong. But in the end, because of some restrictions, I couldn't resist or get rid of Kevin Walker; even if we are the same person, he can lock me up, use me, order me, and make me do things I don't want to do like a master… For example, Lin Xian, the two thousand Starlink satellites that smashed into you back then, and the X-37B spaceplane, and… many, many things."

"But, it's different now. I am free, and I am also liberated. I am very grateful to you, Lin Xian, thank you for helping me get rid of myself, and truly let me have my own life… even if, I must admit to you that your arrival was also an accident for me. According to my original plan, the person who came to kill Kevin Walker was not you at all."

"Perhaps… this is the so-called historical necessity. The wheels of history are rolling forward, and some things will inevitably happen, and will inevitably be pushed forward. Just like Kevin Walker's death, if you don't kill him, someone else will kill him; if others don't kill him, someone will always kill him… His death is the inevitability of history, and it will always complete the closed loop at a certain moment, and let the wheels of history continue to move forward."

…

Listening to the voice from the speakers, Lin Xian also confirmed that he had guessed correctly.

Normally speaking, how could it be so easy to kill Kevin Walker under so many surveillance cameras?

It was just that another Kevin Walker was unwilling to let him continue to live.

Don't say that Lin Xian came today.

Even if an old grandmother came today, Kevin Walker would have to die tonight.

The digital life Kevin Walker had ten thousand ways to eliminate the real Kevin, but… it must be limited by some kind of restriction, and he couldn't do it himself.

"Since you are so grateful to me, and thank me for taking such a big risk to help you solve the trouble… then you should show some sincerity."

Lin Xian put both pistols into his pockets, and then spread his hands to the dozens of monitors:

"You must know a lot about the Genius Club, about the time-space traversers, about the laws of time and space… You must also know my current situation, what I need most, tell me."

From all the speakers in the house, there was another calm cold laugh:

"I naturally know all of this. Everything Kevin Walker knows, I know; what Kevin Walker doesn't know, I also know; I naturally know your predicament, and I also know what you are facing, and what difficulties you have encountered."

"Of course I am also very grateful to you, and I want to repay your kindness. It's just… it's a pity, Lin Xian, I also don't think telling you the answer is the right choice. Because, I don't think you have that qualification yet, far from that qualification."

"If you really want to know the answer, then come to the Genius Club! I am looking forward to meeting you at the club gathering. At that time, I will welcome you with the most enthusiastic applause… my friend. I really hope that day can come sooner, and I am even more looking forward to your performance in the Genius Club."

"So, I'm sorry Lin Xian, even though I really want to tell you the answer, the reason why I want to kill myself is because I decided… to be the fairest and most just observer in this game."

Boom…

Boom…

The wires in the room sparked, and the carpet and nearby computer cases instantly caught fire. In the blink of an eye, the entire room was filled with flames, and Lin Xian couldn't help but take a step back, feeling the surge in temperature in the air.

"Goodbye, see you later."

In the burning flames, the speakers also made a sizzling noise:

"[From now on, there will be no more timid and despicable Kevin Walker in this world; there will only be Turing, who is forever fair and just. ]"

Bang bang bang bang bang…

Several speakers exploded after the voice fell, and the flames burning in the house became bigger and bigger.

The fire speed of a normal room is definitely not so exaggerated.

Perhaps.

This was originally Kevin Walker's backhand left to destroy the data in time when he retreated.

But he never thought that it would now be used by his digital life self, becoming a furnace for burning his body.

Lin Xian stepped back and walked to the door of the room.

He finally glanced back at the raging fire in the room. Kevin Walker, with his brain cavity open, lay strangely on the carpet, his hair and clothes covered with flames.

This was the fall of the strongest hacker on the surface, a genius.

There was no grand ceremony.

There was no shocking scene.

There was no thrilling duel.

There was no aftertaste of endless game.

Everything was so simple, so fast.

After all.

Even the most powerful geniuses in this world, they are just a little smarter than ordinary people, after all, they are just flesh and blood.

Too fragile, and too small.

Even with a world-class brain, they can't resist bullets, can't withstand knives and guns. In this ever-changing cat-and-mouse game… any mistake and death is just an instant.

This was Kevin Walker's ending.

Maybe.

It was anyone's ending.

"Goodbye, genius."

Lin Xian turned his head, waved his hand behind him, and strode away.

One day, when he officially joined the Genius Club and sat at the round table.

What he faced was no longer Kevin Walker.

But it was the one who had just gained freedom today, and wanted to be a fair and just observer…

Turing.

Lin Xian suddenly thought.

Did the members of the Genius Club all have their own code names?

Copernicus, Turing.

He currently only knew these two.

The fake intelligence that Huang Que gave him before made Lin Xian think that everyone's code names were randomly chosen, but now he found that it was not the case.

Perhaps each person's code name was related to a real genius in history.

What would Jask's code name be?

What would the code names of other people be?

One day…

His own code name… what should it be?

……

There was no time to think so much now.

Lin Xian ran quickly, rushing towards the first floor above, the campus outside the building.

He didn't know how the battle between Yu Xi and the time-space assassin was going.

Although it seemed that Yu Xi had not been at a disadvantage in the battle with the time-space assassin, she had never been in the lead.

Judging from the superficial strength, the height and physique of the two were not much different.

In the past, Lin Xian often felt that the time-space assassin was a little stronger than Yu Xi, but now it seemed that it might just be a matter of dressing style. Yu Xi's cute style always gave people a stereotype that she was a little petite.

But in fact, when Yu Xi was sleeping in the car during this time, Lin Xian also saw her calves and arms, and there were also many muscle lines.

So… maybe he really underestimated Yu Xi's combat effectiveness because of that short, hamster-like cute ponytail.

Soon.

There were a few more zigzag jumps.

Lin Xian didn't take the stairs, but directly stepped on the wall and flipped up to the first floor, running out of the circular building.

He couldn't see Yu Xi and the time-space assassin at all.

But in the distance, near the gate of the abandoned campus, there was a constant sound of weapons colliding.

It seemed that the two girls were still fighting, and it was still difficult to distinguish the outcome.

Lin Xian glanced at the tough off-road vehicle parked horizontally in front of the building…

He couldn't help at the moment, and just watching might distract Yu Xi and expose a flaw.

Today's results were already very significant, so let's retreat first!

Moreover…

He was really curious.

Since he had killed Kevin Walker, would there be any changes in the fourth dream? Would the mysterious old man disappear?

He was eager to enter the dream and take a look.

If there was really any progress… maybe he could collect some useful intelligence and find a way to deal with the time-space assassin!

After clarifying his thoughts, Lin Xian immediately turned around and got into the tough off-road vehicle.

With a roar, it started.

Then he stepped on the accelerator and did a原地甩尾, accelerating towards the school gate.

Sure enough.

Just after driving past the blind spot of the teaching building, he saw Yu Xi and the time-space assassin fighting fiercely in the moonlight.

There were some traces of the time-space assassin's clothes being cut by the dagger… but it seemed that the wound was not deep, and it did not affect her movements and speed much.

On the other hand, Yu Xi's right arm sleeve was completely torn off, covered with blood stains, and there seemed to be a not shallow wound.

However, Yu Xi was also a ruthless character, as if the injury was not hers. She swung her short knife with cold light, and for a time, she actually pressed the time-space assassin to fight.

"Yu Xi!!"

Lin Xian's speed was very fast, and he rushed directly from the backyard of the school.

He held the steering wheel with his right hand, and shook the Smith & Wesson m500 revolver he stole from Kevin Walker with his left hand, indicating that Yu Xi should pay attention:

"Come over and catch it quickly!"

Yu Xi immediately understood, and immediately did a reverse jump, rushing towards the off-road vehicle that was driving.

She grabbed the rearview mirror with her left hand, took the revolver that Lin Xian handed over with her right hand, and then flipped onto the top of the off-road vehicle.

With this set of flowing movements, the revolver was already tightly held in her hands, aiming at the time-space assassin below!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rate of fire of the revolver was obviously slower, and Lin Xian's speed was very fast, Yu Xi's accuracy was affected, and she did not hit the time-space assassin.

But Lin Xian's purpose was to force the time-space assassin back, and he did not expect this revolver to take any real advantage.

Facts have proved that the time-space assassin was also flesh and blood, and was still afraid of bullets.

She would immediately hide every time she saw a gun, and this time was no exception, frantically retreating in a Z-shape, and the distance from the off-road vehicle was getting farther and farther.

Boom!!!

The roaring off-road vehicle crashed out of the school gate and rushed into the night like crazy.

"Her motorcycle!"

Lin Xian shouted to the top of the car:

"Can the time-space assassin's motorcycle still be driven?"

"No, don't worry."

Yu Xi grabbed the roof luggage rack, united her waist and horse, and jumped from the top of the car. Her petite and agile body directly drilled in from the wide-open passenger car window, adjusted her posture, and sat securely in the passenger seat:

"When she first drove her motorcycle from the sky, my bullet had already pierced the fuel tank. That motorcycle must not be able to be driven."

"You drive faster, pull the distance… after pulling the distance, stop the car for a while. We took the medical kit from the female secretary's house when we set off, and it's in the trunk. I need to treat the wound."

Lin Xian looked at Yu Xi's arm.

Fortunately…

The wound was not as deep as he had expected, it was quite shallow, and did not require sutures and surgical treatment. It only needed to be disinfected, medicated, and bandaged.

Some wounds were like this, not so serious, but the bleeding was scary.

"Did you successfully kill Kevin Walker?" Yu Xi turned her head and asked.

"Killed."

Lin Xian chuckled:

"This can also be regarded as one of the few good news among hundreds of bad news, and it can be tentatively regarded as a rebound from the bottom of our situation."

Yu Xi nodded:

"Then what are you going to do next? Are you going to find Jask? Angelica hasn't contacted you for so long… this doesn't seem normal no matter how you look at it."

"I do have a bad feeling."

Lin Xian replied truthfully:

"I also got some intelligence just now, and I need some time to sort it out carefully. But now, let's pull the distance first, and get rid of the time-space assassin."

"I'll drive the car for a while, you treat the wound, and when I'm tired of driving, I'll switch to you. I need to find some time to sleep."

"Sleep?"

Yu Xi blinked her eyes and looked at Lin Xian incredulously:

"If you are very sleepy now, why don't you let me drive now, and you take the time to sleep. My injury is okay, it doesn't affect my driving, and I'm very energetic."

"No, I'll wait until tomorrow noon to sleep."

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes.

Looking at the dark road ahead with no street lights:

"There is something very important… I need to confirm it as soon as possible."