bullyxtreme Chapter 3, Come on! Let's test our intelligence!
Chapter 3, Come on! Let's test our intelligence!
When Lin Zhou left, he deliberately left a question unanswered: he asked Si Hou to give him an empty room, preferably with a lock. Si Hou didn't have much to say and simply agreed.
After a long time, Si Hou, finding no movement inside, went to open the door, only to find Lin Zhou had already vanished.
Si Hou stood in the empty room for a long time, took a deep breath, and slowly sat down in a chair, his mind racing.
Just then, the handsome man who had brought Lin Zhou earlier walked in, bowed, and said, "Father, this man is so suspicious, why not just kill him?"
Si Hou looked up at him, but instead of answering directly, he simply shook his head slightly: "Didn't he tell you before he came that if you wanted to kill him, he had plenty of ways to do it to you?"
"My son doesn't think he's any expert. If we catch him off guard..."
Sihou raised his hand to interrupt his son's naive idea: "You are young. Every extraordinary person in the world has their own way of protecting themselves. If you follow your method, who knows what might happen? It would be better to talk to this person first and see what you can get out of him. He might even be of great use. In the future, don't be hasty when you encounter problems. You need to calm your mind and focus your energy. Only by harnessing the power of heaven and earth can you achieve great things."
"The son will obey his father's arrangements in everything."
Lin Zhou returned to his room. It was already late at night. He sat in a chair for a long time, his back soaked with cold sweat.
Although he spoke with great confidence, he could still feel a very strong sense of pressure when he actually spoke with Si Hou. At that time, he had done everything he could to remain calm.
He wasn't anything special. Against someone who could rise to the rank of head of the Royal Secret Service, his abilities were woefully inadequate. The only things he could rely on, besides the historical novels he'd read over the years, were his observations of them over there.
You have to understand that although the Southern Song Dynasty was weak, they dared to kill even Yue Fei. What burden would killing a little Karami like themselves have?
He was in a dilemma. He didn't want to deal with Si Hou anymore, but he was worried about Xiao'e and the other children. If he didn't show up for too long, no one could guarantee what those people would do to the children.
"Oh shit……"
After struggling with his thoughts for a long time, Lin Zhou suddenly straightened up. An idea flashed through his mind, and he immediately picked up the phone and dialed 12339...
"Hello, I have superpowers."
His first words stunned the operator, who remained silent for a while before finally saying, "Please do not occupy public resources."
"I really do have superpowers. I'm in Hangzhou right now. Do you have a branch base here?"
"A...a branch base." The operator hesitated for a moment before speaking, "You mean a branch office, right? We do have some..."
Early the next morning, Lin Zhou indeed appeared at the entrance of the local National Security Bureau. Because of the phone call the night before, he was quickly taken to a room.
"Comrade, you can't joke around like that, you really could be detained." A round-faced policewoman brought him a glass of water. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"
Lin Zhou sat there, holding a water glass in both hands, and looked up at her: "I know this sounds absurd, but I don't have any mental problems, and I'm willing to undergo any lie detector test or psychological evaluation."
After saying that, he took out a cloth bag from his backpack and slowly pushed it open—inside were a few copper coins, a handwritten copy of the "Thousand Character Classic", and a few Southern Song Dynasty banknotes.
"These aren't fakes." He took a deep breath and looked at the serious-looking police officer opposite him. "I didn't steal them from a grave either."
"So where did you get it from?"
"I brought it back from the Southern Song Dynasty."
He paused, then added:
"If you don't believe me, I can go over there right now and bring back another thing. I'm not here to cause trouble; I'm here to ask for help. I'm over there protecting a group of homeless children; they would really die without me."
His words were taken seriously, and soon the policewoman called over the relevant person in charge. Four or five people sat there, and the atmosphere immediately became tense.
The officials exchanged glances, and Director Zhao, who was in charge, tapped the table lightly, his tone calm but very authoritative:
"Comrade Lin Zhou, we will immediately send the items you brought for carbon-14 dating and material composition analysis. Before that, we need you to give a detailed and complete account of your entire experience, starting from when you first discovered this 'ability'."
"I understand, I understand." Lin Zhou took a deep breath and tried to calm his voice.
He then recounted his story in detail, from the first time he bought that special copper coin at the flea market, to how he traveled to a dilapidated village in the Southern Song Dynasty on a whim, to how he started a business using instant noodles and toilet paper to survive, and how he met Xiao'e and other descendants of Yue Fei's former subordinates.
He talked about the soldiers in Lin'an, the threat posed by the Imperial City Guard, and the conversation between the magistrate and the commander about the "future of China".
"He asked me, 'Will the future China be able to reclaim its lost Central Plains?'" Lin Zhou repeated this sentence, still a little nervous: "He was too smart, and I didn't dare to answer him directly at the time."
During the narration, Director Zhao and the others rarely interrupted, only occasionally confirming details such as time, place, and relationships between people. Their professionalism and composure gradually relaxed Lin Zhou.
After listening to the lengthy explanation, Director Zhao pondered for a moment and then made a decisive request:
"Comrade Lin Zhou, your narrative is logically clear and rich in detail, and we haven't found any typical characteristics of mental illness yet. But words are not enough. You just said that you can go there now and bring back another item. We need you to conduct an observable demonstration of the time travel."
"How do I demonstrate?" Lin Zhou asked.
"Right here, in this room," Director Zhao said, pointing to an empty space in the corner of the room. "We will use state-of-the-art equipment to monitor any changes in physical parameters as you pass through. At the same time, we need your assistance in completing a positioning task."
He took out a small metal disc with only a laser-engraved number on it.
"This is a beacon we use for high-precision material tracking. Your mission is to take it to the Southern Song Dynasty, stay there for one minute, and then return immediately."
Lin Zhou agreed.
Soon, he was under the focus of several high-speed cameras, thermal imagers, and various sensors, holding a beacon and concentrating.
A familiar sense of disorientation washed over me.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the corner where he usually appeared outside the deserted village of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the faint sound of children's laughter could still be heard in the distance. He suppressed the urge to go find Xiao'e, silently counted to sixty in his mind, and immediately activated his ability to return, picking a leaf as he went.
Almost the instant his figure reappeared in the corner of the room, all the instruments recorded a brief but violent data disturbance, and the parameters showed an anomaly that could not be explained by current science.
Lin Zhou opened his hand, and the metal beacon lay quietly in his palm.
Technicians immediately stepped forward and began comparing the numbered micro-marks under a microscope.
Director Zhao took a deep breath, and his gaze towards Lin Zhou completely changed. Although it was still uncertain whether he had gone to the Song Dynasty, he had just suddenly disappeared in full view of everyone and in front of high-speed cameras.
"Comrade Lin Zhou," he stood up and said solemnly, "On behalf of the organization, I am formally accepting your case. From now on, you are no longer fighting alone. You, and those you need to protect in the Southern Song Dynasty, will be included in the nation's vision and protection."
"Next, we will establish a top-level special task force. Our primary task is:"
Guarantee your absolute safety.
Assess the strategic value of this capability to the nation and its people.
A meticulous plan was developed to ensure the stability and safety of both timelines.
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhou's tense nerves finally relaxed, and an indescribable sense of peace welled up in his heart.
He knew he had made the right move.
After all this trouble, it was almost noon. The director came over and handed Lin Zhou a boxed lunch: "We're still waiting for the test results, so please make do with the cafeteria food."
"No, no, I'm not wronged at all." Lin Zhou hurriedly accepted the package with both hands. "I feel so safe here. But I should mention that there's a cooldown period between my two time travels. The more things I bring, the longer the cooldown period. The longest I can go without being able to come back is three days..."
Although it was already lunchtime, the relevant personnel also brought their lunch boxes to Lin Zhou's side. Although they were reliable comrades when it came to handling matters, who isn't a curious child at heart?
"Hey, Comrade Lin. What kind of makeup did the girls in the Southern Song Dynasty wear? Was it pretty?" The policewoman who initially greeted him asked curiously. "I especially like wearing Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) from the Song Dynasty after get off work."
"Well... actually, our aesthetic sense is quite different from ours. I think you're much prettier than most of their noble ladies."
"Oh my..." the young woman exclaimed excitedly, "Really?"
Just then, the section chief came over and handed Lin Zhou another drink, sitting down next to him and saying with a smile, "Didn't you bring your phone to take pictures?"
"I can't bring it. All living things and electronic devices besides me can't pass; they'll be burned." Lin Zhou wasn't lying at all: "I have to take everything off before I go."
"That's a pity," the section chief sighed. "What do you think about shipping those space-grade radiation shields over there?"
The lively chatter among the group eased the tension of the morning. Afterwards, the colleagues even provided Lin Zhou with a nap bed so he could rest for a while. Finally, around 3 PM, the lab results arrived.
With the dust settled, everything Lin Zhou brought out came from that era, which meant that the legendary time traveler had finally stepped from legend into reality.