Genius Club-Chapter 280 - 5: The Last Man of the East Sea_3

"Isn’t there a safer way?"

Ah Zhuang shook his head:

"If there were...what have all of us been doing all these years, with such great sacrifice?"

Having said that, Ah Zhuang gestured with his hand for Lin Xian to be quiet. Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, he squinted his eyes, and stared intently at the sky where the hot air balloon had long since become invisible.

For a moment, Lin Xian really couldn’t understand what all of this was about, what it was for.

But looking at everyone around him, they were all clenching their fists without saying a word.

He knew it wasn’t the right time to speak and only had to follow Ah Zhuang’s gaze, aimlessly looking up at the sky.

So...

This is actually just another form of New Donghai City?

New Donghai City uses high walls to prevent their entry; Rhine Sky City goes even further, flying straight to the sky, and even pulling up a 10,000-meter-high defense network, fundamentally eliminating the possibility of invasion.

But then.

Why leave a gap right in the middle of the city’s airspace?

What’s the purpose of doing this?

Lin Xian certainly didn’t believe it was some technical reason...

Rhine Sky City, unlike the facade that is New Donghai City, has already mastered controlled nuclear fusion; it is a highly developed city of the future. Logically speaking, how could there be a blind spot in their air defense?

Is it so hard to seal it off?

Why leave a deliberate "weakness"?

...

Hm?

Wait a minute.

Lin Xian began to connect all these unusual and abnormal dots...

Could it be...

That gap!

Is it intentionally left as a "backdoor" for himself?

But that’s giving himself too much credit!

Who exactly holds him in such high regard?

If Lin Xian remembered correctly, as of 2023, the world record holder for the highest parachute jump was a Vice President from Google.

In 2014, he ascended to over 40,000 meters high in a helium balloon, then free-fell for four minutes before opening his parachute to safely land.

That’s the allure of extreme sport challenges.

It’s also a common reason for sparse population abroad.

Although Big Face Cat’s 20,000-meter high skydive doesn’t seem so challenging under the shadow of the Google Vice President’s 40,000-meter record,

The difficulty between the two is like night and day!

In simple terms, the Google Vice President only needed to jump from 40,000 meters and then open his parachute at the right time.

But for Big Face Cat...

He has to glide precisely, controlling his speed and direction to the gap in the air defense, and then find the opportunity to open his parachute and land.

Any slight deviation, a little off in the position, or a bit too fast, and he might directly hit the air defense scanning net and get evaporated by lasers!

Lin Xian believed Big Face Cat wasn’t the type to look for trouble, challenging the extreme for no reason.

To him, what was Rhine Sky City...

Why the necessity to go there?

Suddenly!

A gasp arose from the crowd:

"He jumped! He jumped!" "Big Face jumped!" "He’s gliding!" "Make sure to mark the position!"...

Murmurs of worry and surprise echoed, yet Lin Xian couldn’t see a thing.

He looked around and saw that most people had taken out binoculars.

Turning his head, Er Zhuzi and San Pang held binoculars, looking up.

Lin Xian walked over and tapped Er Zhuzi on the shoulder:

"Er Zhuzi, your sister-in-law came looking for you."

"Where!!"

Er Zhuzi quickly took off his binoculars and looked around!

"Where is she, behind there?"

Lin Xian casually pointed in a crowded direction, then snatched the binoculars from Er Zhuzi’s hand, put them to his eyes, and looked up.

The binoculars unexpectedly had night vision capability.

Fortunately, the moonlight was bright today and the sky was cloudless, following Big Face Cat’s decreasing altitude... the binoculars gradually caught a blurry white figure.

That must be Big Face Cat.

There, the blurry shadow was adjusting its posture, spreading its body out as if it was controlling the direction of its glide.

Just when Lin Xian’s blood was beginning to boil...

Suddenly!

A flare of firelight appeared abruptly in the night sky, tens of thousands of meters away!

A small fireball emerged.

Then...

Everything fell silent.

"That was..."

Lin Xian put down the telescope, thinking of what Ah Zhuang had said earlier, as well as the scene of the firelight vanishing abruptly.

That’s it?

Just like that, Big Face Cat was killed by the anti-aircraft laser?

He looked around.

Indeed, from everyone’s expressions, he received confirmation.

Ah Zhuang sighed.

San Pang also shook his head.

In the gathering of more than a hundred people, there was complete silence; nobody spoke.

Lin Xian felt strange.

The atmosphere was truly odd.

It was supposed to be sadness, but it didn’t seem like everyone was that sad.

It was as if they were numb.

Or as if they had grown accustomed to this kind of sacrifice.

Everyone’s gaze was so hollow.

An old man, staggering forward, patted Ah Zhuang’s shoulder, his face covered in black sores oozing fluid, emitting a stink:

"Ah Zhuang, it’s your turn..."

Ah Zhuang nodded.

He turned and walked towards another area of the ground.

There...

There was a helium balloon beginning to inflate and a set of gear identical to that of the deceased Big Face Cat.

"Wait, what are you guys doing?"

Lin Xian was increasingly bewildered.

Lining up to die?

Or had the Lian Gang members committed some unforgivable, heinous crime, and this was their punishment?

Even if there was some compelling reason to enter Rhine Sky City, they couldn’t keep sacrificing the Lian Gang like this, could they?

Their boss had just died, his bones directly vaporized, couldn’t they switch to someone from another gang?

Lin Xian felt uncomfortable with this collective numbness.

He felt injustice for Big Face Cat.

Yet.

When he circled around, looking at everyone present.

He realized...

Among the crowd gathered here, there was not a single young or middle-aged man!

Women, old men, children...

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But no men.

He looked again, and truly, there was not a single man!

"Where are the other men?"

Lin Xian couldn’t help but ask aloud.

At that moment.

A familiar-faced girl, Lee Ningning, standing to the right of Lin Xian, shook her head:

"The three of them..."

"They are the last men of Donghai."

...

Lin Xian’s brows furrowed.

Looking at the silent crowd around him, watching Ah Zhuang start to put on a spacesuit on the other side, looking up at Rhine Sky City in the sky twinkling with thousands of blue stars, looking even higher at the moon covered by a black handprint...

This world.

What on earth has happened?