Chapter 365: One-Vote Veto

HUMMM!

HUMMM!

HUMMM!

Just as Cheng Mengxue was making a pinky promise with a warm smile, Jiang Ran’s vision blurred. The world spun, and everything went black as he fell into the vortex of time and space.

His two-hour time limit was up. Just as expected, the worldline kicked him back to the year 2025.

Two seconds later, all discomfort vanished. Jiang Ran opened his eyes on the campus of East Sea University.

He looked up at the full, bright moon in the sky.

Cheng Mengxue was right.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch this world die.

There was no telling at what point Puppet Pompey would win this game.

He had to be stopped as soon as possible.

Pompey himself had said he “couldn’t control his own thoughts.” That was why, despite having hesitated and considered giving up, he still ended up triggering the super-disaster in 2028.

Although Jiang Ran couldn’t understand what “not being able to control his own thoughts” meant, it at least indicated that the ability Pompey possessed was unstable.

‘Like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment.’

A lingering fear gripped Jiang Ran.

If Pompey could hold off until 2028 before triggering the super-disaster, it would mean Jiang Ran had three years to repair the Positron Cannon, find Lu Yu, and build the Time Travel Machine to save Cheng Mengxue.

But…

What if some other accident happened in the meantime, causing the super-disaster to occur earlier?

He had already checked in the Virtual World. None of the people he knew—not himself, not Qin Feng, not Lu Yu, not Zhang Yang, and so on—had managed to enter the Virtual World.

This meant that they had all either died during the disaster or had lost their lives even before it happened.

‘I can’t bet the future on an enemy’s mercy.’

Jiang Ran clenched his fists.

If he were to die in an accident, not only would Cheng Mengxue’s revival become impossible, but the entire world would also meet its end in 2045.

‘This trip to Switzerland… I have to go.’

‘I have to nip Pompey’s plan… in the bud!’

…

Back in his dorm, Fang Ze was still asleep. It seemed overcoming jet lag wasn’t easy.

Jiang Ran took out his laptop, sat down by the coffee table, and started researching.

Currently, the only clue about Puppet Pompey was a speech he gave at Zurich Polytechnic Institute at the end of 2025.

Pompey had also specifically mentioned that a student had raised a point during that speech, but he hadn’t paid it any mind at the time. It wasn’t until over a decade later that he belatedly realized its significance, filled with regret.

Various search results began to pop up on his computer screen.

Zurich Polytechnic Institute, full name ETH Zurich, was consistently ranked among the top universities in the world, never falling out of the top ten.

It was, without a doubt, one of the world’s leading academic institutions.

Anyone invited to give a speech at such a university would surely be an elite in their field, and information about such events would be easy to find online.

‘Found it.’

It didn’t take long for Jiang Ran to lock onto his target—

“Internationally renowned research expert in sociology and computer science, Professor Noah, will arrive at Zurich Polytechnic Institute on October 27, 2025, to hold an academic symposium.”

Zurich Polytechnic Institute hosted many academic events every month, but the reason Jiang Ran zeroed in on this one was that he had clicked on Professor Noah’s resume—

He was an alumnus of Dartmouth College and had published multiple papers that shook the academic world while still a student, with particularly significant contributions in the fields of *Consciousness Upload* and *New Form of Sociology*.

Staring at the familiar keywords, a series of clues clicked into place…

Dartmouth College,

Consciousness Upload,

Yan Chonghan,

Cheng Mengxue and Li Yini,

Puppet, Magician, and Priest.

‘It’s him.’

Jiang Ran narrowed his eyes.

Dartmouth College was the birthplace of artificial intelligence technology, home to the world’s top programs in anthropology, sociology, and computer science. It was also Professor Yan Chonghan’s alma mater.

With the perfectly matching profile and the time and place of the speech, it wasn’t hard to deduce—

Professor Noah was Puppet Pompey.

October 27th…

Jiang Ran glanced at the calendar in the bottom-right corner of his computer screen.

‘There’s only one week left. Can I get a visa for Europe in time?’

Although he had managed to get a passport when he had some free time, Jiang Ran had no experience traveling abroad. When it came to visas, he was completely in the dark.

He did a quick search and found that Switzerland was not a visa-free country for Dragon Country passports, so… getting a visa was going to be a bit of a hassle.

What a headache.

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but sigh.

If he couldn’t get a visa, he couldn’t enter Switzerland. If he missed this speech at Zurich Polytechnic Institute, given his complete lack of academic standing, it would probably be impossible to meet the highly esteemed Professor Noah again.

Moreover,

he was going there to refute the man’s research and persuade him to abandon the Virtual World project. In a university lecture hall, he would at least have a chance to raise his hand and ask a question. Any other time, he’d probably be thrown out by Professor Noah before he could even get the word “no” out of his mouth.

Unless he decided to show his hand and call him out by the name “Puppet Pompey,” directly exposing Professor Noah’s identity.

But that would be foolish.

The Genius Playground was currently rife with infighting, and Qin Feng himself was in hiding just to conceal his identity. If he naively pointed at Professor Noah and said:

“I know you’re the Puppet from the Genius Playground! I also know about your future Virtual World project! Listen to me—”

The next thing he’d be met with would undoubtedly be a bullet to silence him.

He had to use a gentler, more subtle approach that didn’t give anything away, reminding the professor of the Virtual World’s flaws. That was the only way to ensure his own safety.

Jiang Ran continued to look up the required documents for a Swiss visa, taking pictures of the information with his phone while also searching for tutorials provided by other netizens.