Genius Club
Chapter 1195 - 46 Humanity and Tea (Bonus chapter for monthly votes!)

Da Vinci opened her eyes wide, looking at the polite and gentlemanly old man before her.

The last time the Genius Club held a gathering in the real world was in 2004, twenty years ago... It was also the last time she saw Galileo.

Back then, although Galileo still wore a mask that hid his features, he wasn’t nearly this old.

What on earth had Galileo been busy with over these twenty years of absence to age so much?

But...

She wasn’t in a position to judge Galileo.

In 1982, when they met at the Genius Club for the first time, she was a 28-year-old young woman.

By 2004, during their last meeting, she was already nearing fifty, a middle-aged woman.

Now, in 2024, another twenty years had passed, and she was in her seventies. Compared to Galileo, she wasn’t much younger.

Time, the years—they are always so fair.

Fair to everyone.

Gradually...

Her wide, alert eyes softened, and her pounding heartbeat began to subside.

The destiny of Genius Club members...

was just like this.

In the moment she saw Galileo,

she had already seen the [ending] of the story.

"How did you find me?"

Da Vinci smiled faintly:

"I’ve always thought I hid myself well. Never did I expect you’d spot a flaw."

"Logically speaking, the world is so vast, its population so immense, and I’ve never been as flamboyant as Jask... So how did you manage to pinpoint me in this sea of people so precisely?"

Galileo put his black top hat back on.

He leaned his cane in front of him, pressed down with both hands, straightened his posture, and shook his head:

"You have no flaws, Miss Galileo."

His voice was as calm and measured as it had been in the Genius Club:

"You’re right. In such a vast world, finding a single person is indeed difficult."

"But, what if..."

"[I’ve been searching for forty years?]"

He raised his head, his deep-set eyes, lined with the traces of time, blinking slowly as he spoke:

"Forty years spent searching for one person—suddenly, it doesn’t seem so hard anymore."

"What’s more... during these forty years, we’ve met almost every month, talked, and learned more about your thoughts and plans."

He chuckled softly.

Da Vinci let out a light laugh, shaking her head gently:

"Should I say you’re persistent? Or just downright creepy?"

Galileo laughed cheerfully at that. He slightly raised his cane, pointing at the nearby house encircling the small courtyard:

"Perhaps this is a topic we can take our time discussing. So..."

"May I trouble you for a cup of tea?"

...

Inside the house.

Da Vinci fetched a small kettle of water, placed it on the stove, and quietly waited for it to boil.

Then she turned around.

Looking at Galileo sitting on the opposite side of the table, she waited for his answer.

"It all started with the question you asked at the last gathering."

Galileo removed the black top hat from his head and set it on the table.

Crossing his hands and laying them flat, he then raised his gaze to Da Vinci:

"I’ve been pondering ever since—what is your plan for the future? I’ve wanted to know how you intend to guide humanity, how you will harness the power of example to influence the world."

"I’ve thought about it a lot—about education, about culture, about propaganda, and even about brainwashing..."

"But I could never figure it out. I couldn’t imagine what kind of person could remain unchanged, steadfastly serving as an example and consistently guiding humanity toward goodness."

"Then, just last month, when you brought up the topic of energy, Einstein casually mentioned the successful invention of the miniature nuclear battery. That’s when it hit me."

He pressed his lips together slightly.

Looking at the kettle warming on the stove, he continued:

"So that’s it—you plan to use robots."

Galileo closed his eyes:

"I never would have guessed that behind your warm and hopeful plan lay something as cold as robots."

"Once I had this line of thought, investigating became much easier. I quickly uncovered the trail from [Boston Dynamics]."

...

An intentional pause created a solemn stillness.

The entire room fell silent.

By now, the question no longer required an answer, nor Da Vinci’s acknowledgment.

The fact that Galileo was sitting here was proof enough of the truth.

"Boston Dynamics is a renowned name in the field of robotics," Galileo said softly.

"It is a company full of dreams, or rather... a company driven solely by dreams. From very early on, it began its research into humanoid robotics."

"From the initial repeated failures of their mechanical dogs to later creating increasingly agile, intelligent bipedal robots... this company reminds me of Jask in some ways. They fail again and again, but refuse to stop, tirelessly pressing forward despite constant setbacks."

"The hardships and failures this company has faced in developing robots are unimaginable, yet miraculously, it has never once thought of giving up. After several decades of persistent effort, it has become the world’s premier leader in cutting-edge robotics technology."

"But even that isn’t the most remarkable thing. What’s truly extraordinary is that this company hasn’t pursued any path of commercialization... Their research and exploration were never deliberately directed at profit or revenue."

"It’s unbelievable—given the enormous costs and resources required for robotics research, there truly exists a group of people who are motivated purely by dream and passion. So... who is the charitable, generous, and selfless benefactor behind Boston Dynamics?"

Galileo opened his eyes.

On the stove, yellow and blue flames intertwined, dancing and licking at the stainless steel kettle, blurring its surface with a soft haze.

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