He stepped forward and patted Liu Feng on the shoulder:
"Liu Feng, because you have always been so capable and helped bear too much, which made forget sothing very important..."
"Back then, it was indeed Qi Qi who entrusted you to , so... it should be my responsibility to look after you."
"You’ve done enough over the years, the rest... leave it to !"
Liu Feng and Lin Xian exchanged glances.
Once two young n full of spirit.
Now things have changed, turning into a gaze between an old man and a young man.
In their eyes lay ti, interwoven paths, emotions that fate keeps tugging at.
Six hundred years, far too distant.
But with such friends by your side, it seems... the eting outside the walls of Xi’an wearing a delivery helt remains like yesterday.
Liu Feng pursed his lips.
Slowly extended his right index finger.
Raised it between his and Lin Xian’s gaze.
"We have always been striving, just in hopes we can get it right once."
He looked at the ’one’ ford by his finger, and at Lin Xian beyond it:
"[Perhaps this ’one’ refers to you.]"
...
A week later.
Rhein University’s rear mountain, the ruins of the underground laboratory.
"This laboratory used to be Rhein University’s top-secret lab, built using a large amount of hafnium alloy, hence it was preserved during the catastrophe."
Liu Feng explained to Lin Xian while sitting in a wheelchair, accompanied by Chen Heping and the security captain Big Face Cat.
"It’s very quiet here, undisturbed, perfectly fitting your needs for quiet contemplation."
"Huh?"
Big Face Cat, who was pushing Liu Feng’s wheelchair, stopped and shouted loudly:
"No way, buddy! What kind of joke is this you’re pulling! You’re planning to retreat in this underground lab?!"
"Yes."
Lin Xian nodded and said:
"We were belatedly aware that the cosmological constant 42 is not simply a mathematical problem, nor a physical one. Thus, chances are high that it can’t be solved through laboratory experints, experintal equipnt, or traditional scientific thods."
"If science cannot solve it, you’re planning to rely on mysticism?"
Big Face Cat opened his eyes wide:
"So you’re intending to stay in this enclosed space without interacting with people or going out, just thinking hard with your brain, relying solely on pen and paper calculations, and hoping the Pen Fairy will manifest and grant you insight?"
"Stop talking so much, Brother Lian."
Lin Xian glanced sideways at Big Face Cat, ignoring him.
Back then in The Second Dreamland, Chen Heping did the sa, locking himself in a room for years without coming out, eventually calculating 42 solely with pen and paper.
Lin Xian always believed.
Even though Chen Heping in The Second Dreamland did not truly understand 42, his series of bizarre behaviors showed he must have been very close to the answer back then.
Unfortunately...
Chen Heping in The Second Dreamland, before getting married, obtained "Introduction to the Cosmological Constant" from Li Cheng and studied it for thirty to forty years before grasping so insights.
But now there isn’t that much ti for research.
One as strong as Chen Heping has already achieved such progress within only six years, which is truly remarkable.
The remaining hope rests on Lin Xian creating a miracle.
Even if he doesn’t understand mathematics or the cosmological constant.
But inspired by Liu Feng, Gao Wen, and Chen Heping, he indeed gained so insight, so inspirations... transcending dinsions, navigating the great river of ti and space.
Just like crossing ti and space, the bizarre and colorful,
The precarious kite string in the storm,
The daily intertwining of dreams and reality,
These experiences are precious insights beyond Liu Feng and the others.
Perhaps.
The answer.
Is within them!
"It’s not about talking more or less."
Big Face Cat scratched his head:
"I just find it strange; could thinking alone make such a complex answer erge without experints or studying from books?"
"Of course it can."
Chen Heping looked at his son Big Face Cat and patiently explained:
"Everyone knows Newton’s story; just by sitting under an apple tree and getting hit by an apple, he gained inspiration to understand the law of universal gravitation."
"The greatest physicist in human history, Einstein, also conceptualized ’Theory of Relativity’ due to being inspired by a sledding dream."
"The proposed Olbers’ Paradox laid the groundwork for the Big Bang model and the theory of the expanding universe, yet originally... it was rely Olbers’ whimsical paradox during his stargazings."
"[Often, many complex cosmic rules discovered originate from very simple and easy-to-ignore daily phenona.]"
"Therefore... Lin Xian’s kind of retreat contemplation is also a very common scientific research thod; especially for cosmic constant 42 matters, conventional rational understanding and experintal data often bring counterproductive effects."
Big Face Cat let it pass in one ear out the other, not listening at all.
"Whatever you all say."
He picked so earwax with his finger and flicked it away:
"As long as it’s not locked inside there; I’ll just be in charge of delivering als every day, right?"
After flicking away the earwax, Big Face Cat rubbed his chubby hand on Lin Xian’s shoulder:
"Don’t worry, buddy, I guarantee you’ll eat well every day! Once you get inside, complete the transformation soon and co out sooner!"
Chen Heping stepped forward and grasped Lin Xian’s hand:
"We will try not to disturb you with outside matters; at school, I’ll assist Liu Feng in dealing with things. If we make any breakthroughs regarding the cosmological constant... we will notify you imdiately."
Liu Feng also maneuvered the wheelchair forward, clasping Lin Xian’s hand:
"Counting on you, Lin Xian; I believe... the final key must reside within you."
"I hope our next eting will be when the truth behind 42 is revealed."
Lin Xian nodded.
Turned around.
A last distant gaze towards the White Jade Statue standing in the sunrise at the campus gate.
Zhao Yingjun and Yu Xi stood proudly, radiantly gleaming.
"This is our sunrise."
Lin Xian said to the world, to the universe, to the World-Ending White Light approaching Earth at the speed of light:
"It is also humanity’s sunrise."
Bang!
The hafnium alloy door closed, isolating Lin Xian alone in the underground laboratory.
The morning sun slowly rose.
Stretching the shadow of the White Jade Statue long, very long, extending from the campus gate all the way to the laboratory door on the rear mountain...
Gently brushing over.
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