Genius Club
Chapter 1196 - 46 Humanity and Tea (Bonus chapter for monthly votes!)_2

"You’ve been incredibly secretive."

As he gazed at Da Vinci, sitting silently on the little wooden chair by the fireplace, he smiled and said:

"You didn’t invest directly in Boston Dynamics. Your methods are far more ingenious than anyone could have imagined… In just ten years, this company has been on the brink of bankruptcy multiple times."

"But coincidentally, every time the company was about to go under, there would be major capital tycoons stepping in to acquire it. In 2013, Google’s parent company acquired the firm; in 2017, Japan’s SoftBank bought it; in 2020, Stick Country’s Hyundai Motors saved it again by acquiring the company that was once more teetering on the edge of bankruptcy."

"It looks like a game of hot potato; it seems everyone loves this robot company that has no apparent commercial prospects and only burns money recklessly. But... is that really the case?"

"If it weren’t for the question you raised at last month’s gathering, I might not have thought so deeply about this. But the field I can think of that most urgently needs energy solutions and miniature nuclear batteries happens to be robotics."

"What happens after that... I suppose I don’t need to explain. Your capital manipulation tactics are incredibly sophisticated, and your identity is almost perfectly concealed. But just as every bird leaves a trail in flight, every action leaves traces. Therefore... not long after last month’s gathering, I figured out who you really are."

...

"I see."

Da Vinci’s gaze remained fixed as she stared at the white steam slowly emerging from the kettle spout:

"So... that’s why you said those inexplicable words to me during this month’s gathering."

At the gathering two days ago.

Galileo first claimed he had seen through her plans almost completely;

then said her plans were doomed to fail;

and finally stated the most baffling question—

"If one day you uncover my true identity, would you kill me?"

At the time, Da Vinci found the question utterly incomprehensible.

Yet unexpectedly.

It turned out...

Galileo had long foreseen this very scene.

Just as human nature and primal instincts separate into opposing realms, she sat by the fireplace while Galileo sat at the nearby table, the two of them within the same living room yet divided by an insurmountable galaxy.

"Then why did you wait until today to come find me?"

Da Vinci asked:

"If you had uncovered my true identity last month and knew where I was, why choose today to approach me?"

"No..."

Galileo shook his head:

"I never intended to come to you."

"I wasn’t prepared to meet you in any way. Honestly, knowing my solitary nature, I preferred wearing masks and communicating with you, as well as chatting idly during gatherings with the Genius Club."

"Even though we only meet once a month, that was already enough for me. Investigating your true identity indeed stemmed from curiosity, but the moment I found out, I had no intention of confronting you."

Da Vinci lifted her head:

"Then why did you come anyway?"

Galileo raised his head as well and locked his gaze with hers:

"Because of [Rhein]."

He said in a deep voice:

"Rhein spoke to you after the gathering, didn’t he... Surely, he told you something about me?"

Da Vinci said nothing.

She blinked, silently watching Galileo.

"Heh. Seems I guessed right."

Galileo chuckled softly:

"[Rhein must have used my future plans as chips in exchange for information with you.]"

"Tell me, Miss Da Vinci, what did Rhein talk to you about?"

Da Vinci remained silent for a few seconds:

"What we discussed is between Rhein and me."

Galileo pressed his lips together and exhaled sharply through his nose:

"Even if you don’t say, I can guess."

"At this month’s gathering, you raised the question of when the next global disaster would occur, and Einstein refused to answer. Rhein... he knew the answer, didn’t he? He told you."

Da Vinci remained unmoved, smiling briefly:

"How can you be sure Rhein knows?"

"I know."

Galileo shifted his gaze to the increasingly scalding kettle:

"Rhein knows about space-time particles; he likely even possesses them. If so... he would’ve understood what my earlier questions were scheming."

"Even though he was the last person to join the Genius Club, he clearly knows a lot about us. At the very least, the fact that he spoke to you after the gathering shows he held chips you would be interested in."

"In that case... the information he exchanged with you must be related to the global disaster."

Upon hearing this.

Da Vinci lowered her head, chuckling softly.

[Wrong guess.]

Galileo guessed entirely wrong.

He assumed Rhein used information about the "global disaster" to trade for Da Vinci’s question concerning Turing.

But in truth...

Rhein said nothing at all.

Even when Da Vinci directly asked whether the global disaster was linked to Galileo, Rhein had merely laughed it off, saying he didn’t know.

Thus.

The real reason Galileo hadn’t rushed to confront Da Vinci last month despite knowing her identity and location, yet came in such haste after the gathering...

Was entirely because he believed his future plans had been exposed.

From Galileo’s perspective, this assumption was reasonable.

After all.

Who would expect Rhein’s chips for exchanging information to be his future plans?

It was sheer miscommunication, pure coincidence.

Galileo was simply too arrogant, too narrow-minded, too extreme.

Nonetheless...

Now that Galileo openly admitted it in front of her, it meant...

He truly didn’t care anymore.

Not that he didn’t care about his future plans being exposed.

But rather...

He was confident that his future plans could no longer be used against him.

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