Genius Club
Chapter 1162 - 35 Galileo and Da Vinci_2

Lin Xian thought for a moment.

Indeed, the analysis made a lot of sense.

The Genius Club members are all cunning, their words often a mix of truth and lies. Though it seems like everyone dislikes Copernicus, there’s no guarantee they aren’t secretly aligned with him.

Take Turing, for example—he hides it well.

Better safe than sorry. Let Jask take the fall for this one. Knowing his personality, he’d probably be more than happy to smugly proclaim:

"Everyone, listen to me! I have an announcement to make! That’s right! It was I who killed Copernicus! Applause, thank you!"

Lin Xian agreed to Jask’s suggestion and hung up the phone.

He glanced at the time: September 1, 2024, 00:20.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

He’d always joined the VR virtual meeting precisely at 00:42… Every time he opened the door, the others were already seated and chatting for a while.

Which meant—

He could show up early!

The rules merely stated that you couldn’t be late; they never said you couldn’t arrive ahead of time.

No matter the era—

Arriving early to a meeting is always considered courteous, and surely wouldn’t be rejected.

"Alright, let’s go in early today."

Lin Xian put on his VR headset:

"Let’s sit down early, listen to their chatter, and eat some gossip."

After adjusting his VR headset, Lin Xian affixed the Genius Club Golden Badge to the front shell of the headset.

Beep beep.

A soft sound chimed, and dazzling holographic lights filled his vision like a time tunnel, until the scene stabilized into the familiar castle interior.

Lin Xian lowered his gaze.

Underfoot was a plush red wool carpet, leading to the grand double doors ahead.

On the previous two visits, chatting voices always drifted from the other side of the doors, usually led by the loudest, most cheerful laugh—the voice of Da Vinci.

But today...

It was silent.

No one was talking.

"Could I have arrived too early?"

Lin Xian stepped forward, following the carpet’s path.

Maybe this time, he was the first to arrive at the venue.

Which was fine.

He’d been late the last two times; might as well balance things out.

Creaaak—

He pushed open the grand double doors and looked into the Golden Hall.

"Huh?" "Eh?"

Lin Xian raised his head, his eyes meeting those of a middle-aged man wearing a Galileo Mask seated on a high-backed chair to the left.

Turns out he wasn’t the earliest; someone had beaten him to it.

"Why are you here so early?"

Galileo’s tone carried a hint of displeasure, as if admonishing Lin Xian:

"Our gathering starts at 00:42. There’s no need for you to show up so early—five minutes in advance is fine at most, or just arrive on the dot; no one would say anything."

"No way."

Lin Xian couldn’t help but retort.

Why was it that the one time he decided to arrive early, he got a lecture?

I thought Galileo was supposed to be a rigid old man?

The first time he attended while wearing the Rhein Cat Mask, Galileo had criticized him for being too casual and lacking basic respect for the club.

And now, he’d made an effort to arrive early to change that impression, only to get scolded by this geezer right off the bat?

Lin Xian continued walking forward, glancing at Galileo:

"How could it be wrong to come early? Besides, didn’t you come even earlier?"

"Hmph."

Galileo let out a snort and turned his head back, sitting up straight in his chair:

"I was simply concerned that as a newer participant in our gatherings, you might not yet be fully aware of certain conventions, so I kindly offered a reminder."

"Arriving early is certainly a good habit, but there’s really no need to be excessively early. Unlike you, I’m an old man—I enjoy quiet moments alone."

"Alright, then."

Lin Xian settled into the last chair assigned to him, leaned back, and crossed his legs:

"Sorry for disturbing your peace. If I’d known it was just you here, I wouldn’t have bothered coming so early."

For some reason—

Lin Xian could sense it.

Galileo seemed to utterly dislike him.

And interestingly enough...

The old man’s disdain wasn’t due to his stance or words—it was simply because Lin Xian had arrived too early and disrupted his peace?

This cranky geezer was really hard to please.

If you’re so desperate for quiet, why not retreat to the real world, to some Snow Mountain Villa or a secluded winery to meditate? Why are you spending precious minutes sulking in the Genius Club venue?

Lin Xian had originally come for gossip.

But Galileo kept staring at the double doors, making it clear he didn’t want to engage, so Lin Xian naturally wouldn’t try to force a conversation.

Then fine, let’s both pretend the other doesn’t exist.

Creaaak—

Just as Lin Xian decided to compete with Galileo in a game of "who speaks first loses," the grand double doors opened once again.

The virtual figure of a young, voluptuous woman—Miss Da Vinci—entered, wearing her Da Vinci Mask:

"Oh, Rhein? You’ve come so early today, too?"

Lin Xian glanced at Galileo across the way.

Thinking—

Now that Miss Da Vinci has interrupted your meditative silence, aren’t you going to grumble too?

At the very least, you could show her the unpleasant face you showed me?

But then...

A completely unexpected reaction!

"Welcome, Miss Da Vinci."

Galileo straightened his posture like a gentleman, making a habitual motion as if to remove his hat before offering a slight bow toward the entrance:

"It’s been a month. How have you been?"

"Wait a minute."

Lin Xian asked, puzzled:

"Aren’t you being just a bit too hypocritical here?"

He finally realized...

Galileo’s hostility toward him wasn’t about him personally arriving early—it was because his presence had interrupted Galileo’s opportunity to be alone with Miss Da Vinci!

What a sly old fox, so full of schemes!

Thinking back to the last gathering, when Galileo had invited Da Vinci to stay behind for a chat after adjournment; and now, with his early arrival today, Galileo’s obvious irritation and subtle advice to come later next time—it was clear as day what Galileo had been angling for all along.