Genius Club-Chapter 1164 - 36: Gathering Storms (Extra for Alliance Leader Meng Meng’s Dream!)

"Ahem, ahem."

Jask cleared his throat twice, looking slightly embarrassed.

The same pen—when the first person shows it off, it’s an act of divine inspiration; but when the second person shows it off, it’s nothing but awkward.

"It’s fine, it’s fine."

Jask chuckled awkwardly and said:

"After all, it’s just the four of us here now. Let’s just pretend we didn’t hear that."

"It’s actually five."

Creak—

The brown double doors were pushed open again, and Newton strode in with a spring in his step. frёeωebɳovel.com

Perhaps intentionally.

Even though Newton was an old man about the same age as Copernicus, his virtual avatar was of a young man. He had even adopted the manner of speaking and pace of a young guy, mimicking it deliberately.

"It’s great to see you’re still alive, Jask."

The young man wearing the Newton mask glanced at Jask as he walked by his seat.

"Knowing Copernicus, I was convinced he’d kill you and replace you with an actor. But after observing your Twitter, it’s hard to believe any actor in the world could impersonate you flawlessly without slipping up even once."

Jask gave a faint laugh:

"Speaking of Copernicus, let me just announce something in advance."

He raised both his hands high:

"Everybody quiet down, eyes on me!"

"W-wait… for me…"

Creak—

The brown double doors were pushed open once more, and the slender man in the Gauss mask came rushing in, hunched over, desperate not to miss any of the juicy drama:

"Phew… just in… time…"

"You’ll never see Copernicus again."

Jask cut off Gauss’s stammering and announced loudly:

"I’ve already killed that annoying old crank for good."

The moment he said this.

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Da Vinci’s voice carried a shocked tone:

"Is that true? How did you pull it off?"

Newton, now seated, also asked with curiosity:

"Oh? Are you sure you got the right guy? I’ve been sparring with him for so long and never managed to pin him down… Did you really finish him off? Could you share his real identity and address with me?"

Galileo gave a cold snort as well:

"Jask, you’ve told way too many tall tales in your time. There are countless people waiting for you to send them to Mars by 2026, and you’ve already sold tickets for it… Now that lie’s fallen apart, you’re just coming here to spin more yarns for the club?"

Beside him, the slender Gauss swayed as he sat down in a high-backed chair, glancing around nervously, gulping several times before finally squeaking out a single word:

"But Cop—"

"Einstein!"

Miss Da Vinci’s clear voice drowned out Gauss’s attempt to speak, and everyone lifted their heads to look toward the ebony high-backed chair atop the tiered platform.

There, an elderly figure wearing an Einstein mask was emerging from the steps at the back, walking slowly.

Lin Xian now understood: the president had privileges.

While everyone else came through the main entrance, only Einstein entered through the rear door.

It was precisely because Da Vinci had noticed Einstein taking his seat that she had called out:

"Einstein, quickly, tell us—is this true?"

Miss Da Vinci urged him on:

"Is Copernicus really dead? If so, that would be such a relief!"

However...

The elderly man in the Einstein mask shook his head softly:

"The Genius Club Charter states that we operate under a lifetime membership system, so regardless of whether someone is alive or dead, their seat in the Genius Club is always reserved."

"Often, members incorporate their lives and deaths into their future plans, so I will never publicly announce the death of any member, as it’s part of their privacy… even if they really have passed away."

Miss Da Vinci let out a dismissive snort:

"And yet, back in June, when Jask said Turing was dead, you acknowledged it. Not only that, you even told us proactively that Turing had been replaced by a digital life."

"Then in July’s meeting, none of us even asked, but you voluntarily announced that Turing’s digital life had also died."

Einstein slowly approached his ebony high-backed chair, sat down, and fixed his gaze on Da Vinci:

"Miss Da Vinci, you were absent from meetings for two years at that time. Turing joined us during that period. When it comes to announcing deaths, Turing was an exception, which everyone here except Rhein is already aware of."

Da Vinci tilted her head, scanning the others:

"Why was Turing an exception?"

"Now that you mention it, I remember when Jask suddenly went missing, we were all speculating whether you were really dead. But Einstein didn’t say a word about it back then—neither confirming you were alive nor dead."

"So why was Turing’s death disclosed and announced? Could someone explain this to me, a frequent absentee?"

Across from her.

The slender Gauss nodded hesitantly:

"Because… Turing… he… knew every—"

"Turing was responsible for reconstructing the VR meeting program, so he knew all of our information."

Nearby, Galileo patiently explained:

"Einstein made this clear when Turing first joined our meetings. He said that letting Turing rebuild the VR meeting program and redesign the identity authentication mechanism was meant to enhance member privacy protection, as Turing genuinely possessed such advanced technical capabilities."

"But by doing so, Turing inevitably gained access to all of our identities, addresses, and even future plans. Therefore, Einstein also made two commitments at the time—"

"1, Turing was absolutely forbidden from leaking any member’s information or harming any other member."

"2, In the event of Turing’s death, Einstein would immediately notify the club during a meeting. At that point, all backend access would revert to Einstein’s control, just like it has now… We no longer need to worry about anyone knowing our true identities."