Chapter 626 - 360: A High-Stakes Gamble

Chapter 626: Chapter 360: A High-Stakes Gamble

"Chu, I’ve studied your genes as well. From a historical big-data perspective: average height and strength, but high agility, toughness, and endurance. You have no body odor, can live on coarse food, and adapt easily to new environments."

"You’re intelligent, possess a belief in grand unification, practice ancestor worship, are polite, and are rich in the spirit of sacrifice and collectivism."

"You’re a standard, ordinary Chinese person—or, to be more precise, an ordinary Chinese person from south of the Yangtze River. Many years ago, people of this stock crossed the oceans to Southeast Asia, to Europe, and to the United States to build railroads... They could maximize their survival advantage even under the most limited conditions."

Liszt took a sip of his champagne and spoke nonchalantly, as if discussing some academic matter.

Lin Chu glanced at him, raised his glass to clink with Liszt’s, and joked, "My next generation’s genes might not be so pure. After all, as a womanizer, I’ll probably have descendants with mixed genetics."

The old man laughed and glanced out the window again.

A large delivery truck with more than a dozen wheels came speeding up from behind, overtook their minibus, and continued to race onward.

"That’s not your truck, is it?"

He joked as well.

Lin Chu shook his head with a smile. "Of course not..."

He then turned to look at Jin Bingzou. "Mr. Jin, are you going to give me the list now?"

Jin Bingzou’s fair face was slightly swollen, and he held a hand to it. Hearing Lin Chu’s question, he licked his lips and glanced at Liszt, but Liszt remained completely indifferent.

He would definitely not get involved in a struggle between club members—or, in other words, between the next generation of "heirs." This was an explicit rule.

After giving Lin Chu a long, hard look, he took a pen and paper from his bag and quickly began to write.

"Well done!"

"I admire you!"

Lin Chu twisted the knife, then drained his champagne and signaled for a refill. He continued, "Second, about the lawsuit. I don’t think it’s necessary; it would be a waste of my time. Conventional rules are meaningless to people like you and me. There’s no point in proving who’s superior unless it’s a matter of life and death."

"I don’t know how much longer your body can hold out, but I know your lifelong wish. You want to be immortal, but that’s impossible with humanity’s current level of technology. It’s impossible even if you excavate the Pyramids and Emperor Qin’s tomb... Have you considered cloning? Or artificial intelligence, things like that? At the same time, I don’t think a genetic copy living in a petri dish and a nutrient solution would really be *you*."

"To show my respect, I’ve actually designed a very romantic way for you to die. When you’re gone, I will use humanity’s most advanced technology and do everything possible to send your remains into outer space."

"Since you want to explore unknown life and the universe, then you should go... We don’t have ’dehydration’ technology at the moment, but what if you run into an extraterrestrial civilization that does?"

"What do you think, Mr. Liszt?"

"In fact, I think this could become a standing ritual for the club. When I take over this club, and after I die, I will have my own body dealt with in the same manner."

"Oh... How romantic, how magnificent. A gravestone for human civilization, and a monument as well. To be buried forever in the sea of stars, until obliterated into dust by a planetary explosion—or perhaps, to travel through time and space and begin a new journey of life."

Lin Chu made his statement with a beaming smile.

’It wasn’t a complete bluff, either. Deep down, he really did think it was a pretty good way to be buried.’

Listening to all this, Liszt seemed to be in a good mood. He laughed out loud again and took a sip of his drink.

"A brilliant idea."

"Your aesthetic intuition is astonishing."

"I’m willing to add it to my will. It can also be established as a public requirement for club members after their deaths."

Liszt said with a half-smile, indicating his approval.

’This young man always managed to come up with something new.’

’In fact, if he put their positions aside, Lin Chu was, in many ways, the most suitable candidate.’

’But when it came to race and ideology, Liszt still had his doubts and reservations.’

’He’d even hired people to "divine" what his successor would be like.’

’Unfortunately, such things couldn’t be disproven. He had sought out more than a dozen so-called "masters" with great reputations, but the results they produced had little in common.’

’Fatalism was a traditional aesthetic in both Ancient Greece and Ancient China, but in this day and age, that consensus has been dismantled by humanity itself.’

’As for a higher existence—a "law" of absolute certainty that could be called destiny—Liszt believed in it, but after so many years of searching, he had never found it.’

’It was clearly a realm beyond the reach of human power.’

’It was the Divine Power of creation.’

’Just like Newton, who descended into "theological contemplation" in his later years, his current situation was identical.’

’Does it exist?’

’It must!’

’But where?’

’I don’t know.’

’No one knows.’

’This was one of his greatest motivations to keep on living.’

"As for your request, I disagree. I don’t think it’s a waste of time, and I’m not in the habit of changing my plans."

"Not even death can make me change them."

"In fact, I’m even curious to know what the moment of death feels like. One of the stops on my itinerary this time is that neutrino experimental facility. I heard they recently captured a non-material existence... I’m going to take a look, and I’d like to invite you to come with me."

"I have labs like that too, but I’ve never captured anything... I hope it isn’t academic fraud."

Liszt thus refused Lin Chu’s request to drop the lawsuit—the one he made before his "romantic death" speech—and his reasons were quite sufficient.

No one could shake his will.

’This kind of man was a fanatic by nature.’

’Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent decades chasing an ethereal goal, right up to the end of his life.’

Lin Chu nodded.

’This was within his expectations. However, what the old man said about the neutrino experimental facility did pique his interest.’

’Fucking incredible!’

’To him, this kind of cutting-edge stuff was just news. Something you read and then forgot about, never giving it a second thought.’

’But for an old man chasing these things, each new development was another straw to clutch at.’

’He really wouldn’t let a single clue slip by.’

"No problem."

"I agree."

"Mr. Jin, the list!"

Lin Chu turned his head and shouted again.

Jin Bingzou had already finished writing. He passed the paper to the person beside him to give to Lin Chu, as he himself was reluctant to get any closer.

Lin Chu reached out and took it. He glanced at the names on the list, casually took a picture with his phone, and sent it off, explaining, "If we happen to die together today, they can join us."

Liszt laughed and quipped, "I’d suggest having them scout the road ahead first."

"Mr. Jin is a doctor, a genuine PhD. His research is very valuable. The way you’re treating him, while effective, is not something I approve of."

"In the future, even if you take over the club—and I do approve of your temperament—you still need to show the proper respect to technical personnel."

Lin Chu just smiled casually. "If he can work for you, he can work for me. Once you break a man’s bones, they don’t grow back a second time."

Liszt... was at a loss for words.

Hearing this, Jin Bingzou’s expression turned grim, and he hung his head.

’This was the first time he had met this young man.’

’But he knew with perfect clarity that after this meeting today, his ambition to take over the club had been utterly shattered.’

’It wasn’t the slap that had destroyed it.’

’That was nothing.’

’Rather, he had seen it with absolute, unmistakable clarity in their conversation just now and in every one of the man’s actions.’

’A man richer than him, younger than him, more ruthless than him, a man with even fewer scruples... He was almost identical to Liszt back when he could still stand on his own two feet.’

’A man like that was terrifying.’

...

As the Koaster exited the highway and passed through a tollbooth, Liszt asked casually, "So, when is your big truck showing up?"

Lin Chu shrugged and gave a slightly shameless smile. "It’s probably not coming. There’s no need for it now. Anyone who could be scared has already been scared. As for those who can’t be, are we really going to bet our lives on it?"

"You’ve got a few years left, at most. I, on the other hand, have at least eighty more!"

...

...