Did the world end today?

Chapter 149 Mind Control??
At this moment, 16 minutes had passed, and Lin Xu had already followed Bai Mo into the interior of the Yinghuo Palace space station.

The space station was much larger than he had imagined—at least from the inside, its spatial depth was incredible.

As the two stepped out of the airlock, the current station commander, who had already received instructions, arrived with his team.

"Comrade Lin Xu!"

A man in uniform approached, leading Lin Xu while asking in a calm tone:

"I am He Ping. Is there anything we can do for you?"

Lin Xu followed in He Ping's footsteps and asked in return:

What can a space station do?

"We have the highest authority to communicate with Earth. Once the Butterfly Plan is activated, we can access all resources on Earth."

"Then I need all the information about Zhang Liming."

Lin Xu answered without hesitation, paused slightly, and then continued:

"I mean his resume, his thoughts, changes in interpersonal relationships, medical records. Everything."

"clear."

He Ping nodded immediately. While transmitting the data, he led Lin Xu to the core control room of the space station.

From the holographic screen in the control room, Lin Xu could clearly see the scheduling of each spacecraft, as well as the progress of the "Skyfire Project" in exploration and networking.

But that's not his focus right now.

Zhang Liming's information has been transferred, and the strict archiving system ensures that every major event that happened to him from birth to death is recorded.
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Even if he dies in 2027, before quantum computing technology is fully deployed.

Lin Xu only glanced at the content prior to 2025.

He then discovered that this person's past experience was basically no different from the resumes he had seen in reality.

The real turning point will begin in July 2026.

In July 2026, Zhang Liming was officially transferred to the position of chief scientist of the Lanzhou HIRFL project and concurrently served as the laboratory director.

In August, Zhang Liming resigned from his position as director to focus on scientific research.

This is already quite an "unconventional" move, because someone like him is generally not capable of devoting himself entirely to academia; logically and emotionally, he would need to hold a certain administrative position as well.

This is both his management responsibility and a protection for researchers like him.

It's very simple.

No world can be completely rational and free from internal friction.

How can you conduct scientific research if you don't have any real power?

But that's exactly what he did.

Lin Xu frowned slightly and turned to Bai Mo to ask:
Do you know why he resigned?

"I don't know—but the file says it's due to personal health reasons."

Bai Mo also realized the seriousness of the problem. After a slight pause, she asked:
Is this person a key figure? Is he important?

"At first, I didn't think he was that important."

Lin Xu let out a soft breath.

"At first, I thought he was just an accelerator with built-in buffs."

"But now, it would be very important if his outcome was suicide."

Lin Xu never believed that Zhang Liming would commit suicide for any inexplicable reason.

Because it is not necessary.

Continuing on, it becomes clear that Zhang Liming resigned from all positions and left the HIRFL laboratory in 2027.

At this point, his file went blank.

There are no more scientific research results, no more high-level interactions, and it seems as if we have no connection with the world anymore.

The only evidence of his existence is cold bank statements and occasional hospital visits.

"From 2027 to 2029, he stayed in one place without moving? He stayed in Hangzhou the whole time?"

"Bai Mo, you should still be in contact with him during this time. Do you remember any changes in him?"

"Can't remember."

Bai Mo shook his head and replied:
"It's been too long—almost 20 years—I really can't remember."

That's trouble.

Lin Xu turned to the last page of the file, which contained a more detailed account of Zhang Liming's death.

He died in his rented villa, in a manner as commonplace as "suicide by wrist-cutting."

Of course, as a scholar with a high level of knowledge, he wouldn't think that he could die simply by cutting his wrists.

He used a blade to cut a wound more than 20 centimeters long and nearly two centimeters deep along his forearm.

Death came quickly; by the time the nanny who took care of his daily life found him, it was already too late.

The investigation report explicitly ruled out homicide, but also marked the "suicide" conclusion as "questionable".

Indeed, the authorities also believe that his suicide was suspicious.

Even with their resources to investigate, they could only conclude that the matter was "questionable".

In other words, the factors that led to Zhang Liming's suicide may have been beyond the scope of the official investigation.
What would it be?
Lin Xu closed the file, and by then, 29 minutes had passed.

All the probes in Project Skyfire are ready, and Zhuque-1 has arrived near the upcoming high-dimensional passage.

"I'm ready."

Shen Li's voice came through the radio.

"After entering the higher-dimensional channel, I will use the quantum communication system to communicate with the Yinghuo Palace and report everything I see."

"How long is the time left?"

"4 minutes."

Lin Xu gave a brief answer.

He then added:

"But we may not receive your reply for some time."

"By then, the entire solar system might have already been destroyed."

"So you have to be quick."

"Once inside, do not pause for even a second, report to me immediately."

"clear."

Shen Li's voice was solemn.

Lin Xu once again brought up the operation page that came with the Butterfly Plan and carefully reviewed the project introduction for the near-Earth orbit high-energy particle accelerator project.

This time, he was no longer limited to a single member.

Instead, he carefully reviewed the entire evolution of the project.

"Therefore, the GOHEPA project, from the very beginning, has been an attempt to 'open up channels'."

"Did this project's direction come from Jiang Xingye?"

"No."

Bai Mo, who was standing to the side, immediately replied:
"Jiang Xingye only provided a few key technical information needed for the project, but the specific direction of the project developed naturally."

Bai Mo, as the main person in charge of the Reverse Current project, was naturally aware of this.

That's strange.

If Jiang Xingye only provided the technical information for the project, then the project's direction...
Why was the process so smooth?
Zhang Liming is definitely not just one person.

Because he is not the only one who supports the "cosmic inflation theory".

These people are generally those who have achieved certain accomplishments and have a certain degree of influence in the field of scientific research.

Didn't they stand up and voice their objections when the GOHEPA project was initiated?
It's worth noting that Zhang Liming had already proposed the idea that "the universe is not flat" and that "high-dimensional channels need to be closed" back in 2025.

These voices should not be completely silenced.
Lin Xu vaguely sensed that there was some conspiracy hidden behind this project.

But for a moment, I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

The time has reached 33 minutes.

The instant Lin Xu looked up, on the holographic screen, Zhuque-1 disappeared into outer space as if melting.

Almost simultaneously, the monitoring matrix generated a large number of abnormal data alarms.

"Anomaly in gravity detected!"

"Noise of a quantum spacetime bubble bursting detected!"

"Entangled quantum pairs anomalously collapse!"

"We have lost contact with Suzaku-1!"

Lin Xu's expression remained unchanged.

It's normal to lose contact.

It would be strange if they could maintain contact without interruption.

Based on past experience, it's highly likely that we'll have to wait until the apocalypse arrives and the so-called "wormhole" opens before we can re-establish brief contact with Suzaku-1. We can only wait!

After a brief pause, Lin Xu gave the order:

"Contact the person in charge of GOHEPA and find me Wang Yifan."

If anyone could get closer to the truth behind Zhang Liming's suicide, then Wang Yifan is probably the most likely one.

After all, he was Zhang Liming's teacher, and he should have had a deep impression of the death of his prized student.

"clear."

With Bai Mo's reply, the communication was immediately established.

A moment later, Wang Yifan's slightly tired voice came from inside the space station.

"I am Wang Yifan."

“I am a butterfly.”

Lin Xu explained the current situation at a very fast pace, clarifying his confusion about Zhang Liming's suicide.

After listening, Wang Yifan on the other end of the line fell into a brief silence.

"I have always felt that Dawn's death was not suicide."

Wang Yifan's voice rang out again.

"He did indeed break away from the mainstream academic circle, but he was far from going so far as to commit suicide."

“I talked to him, and the reason he left academia was simply because he needed a break.”

According to him, the disappearance of randomness in entangled quantum pairs has proven the non-flatness of the universe.

"He has achieved a certain stage of his goals, and he needs time to live and complete the milestones of his life as an ordinary person."

"You should know that he has never been married."

"He wanted to live a normal life, and that was his reason."

"Besides, this reason is quite reasonable, isn't it?"

It's very reasonable.

Moreover, it perfectly matches Zhang Liming's identity and his mindset.

He is a believer!

There is an irregular but necessary cycle between leaving the world and engaging with it.

Is it unreasonable to leave academia to rest, or even to "seclude oneself and seek enlightenment"?

"Then why did he die?"

Lin Xu then asked:

"If you say he didn't commit suicide, then how did he die?"

"The investigation records show that he did not have any resistance injuries, but instead had suicidal incisions, which is indeed a typical manifestation of suicide."

Do you think he might be being controlled by someone?

Wang Yifan's face appeared on the holographic projection.

He frowned and said, as if testing the waters:
"Perhaps it's some kind of hypnotic technique."

“Even mind control.”

“I have never believed in these things, but the problem is that after the emergence of higher-dimensional channels, many impossible things seem to have become possible.”

mind control.

Lin Xu was dumbfounded.

He had never considered this possibility.

But honestly, is there really no possibility at all?
In a world dominated by higher-dimensional channels, even the dead can be resurrected.

If there really are some special methods to control a person's mind, then it's not surprising.
-
Theoretically speaking, isn't the information sealed in Jiang Xingye's brain transmitted in this way?
Or, to give a more direct example, Bai Mo, Zhang Yuan, and Xu Qianlin.
Especially Xu Qianlin.

Isn't the "curse of higher-dimensional influence on people" that he mentioned just a form of hypnosis or mind control?

Damn it.

So who?
Lin Xu's brain was working at lightning speed.

Soon after, he suddenly remembered something.

Qi Yuan's interrogation.

Interrogation beneath the launch site on Mars.

The technique and intensity of that interrogation had exceeded Lin Xu's understanding of the concept of "interrogation."

Even with such interrogation, the armed man failed to divulge any crucial information.

Is this really something that human will can accomplish?
No.

impossible.

Willpower is governed by the body.

In any case, it has its limits.

Those armed personnel, they too are "the dominated"!
Lin Xu instantly felt that all the clues had been connected.

Then recall the previous world within the bracelet.

Zhou Yue established the Planetary Reincarnation Organization, and in a very short time, this organization developed into an extremely large organization.

According to Qi Yuan, the enemy he faced during the Battle of Naibuk was...
They are even more insane than extremist groups.

This madness is all for a goal whose specific meaning they don't understand.

How were their thoughts changed?
And then there's Xu Jin.

Up until now, Lin Xu has seen almost no trend of "mindset reversal," even though he is an autistic patient!

His acceptance of foreign information and ideas is naturally several orders of magnitude lower than that of ordinary people!

Is he really just going to extremes?
Will he take extreme measures?

And Zhang Yuan.

"Those who are brought back from the dead can escape the end of the world."

This wasn't said by Jiang Xingye.

Lin Xu could even assert that Jiang Xingye would never say those words at any point in the future.

Because the "habitual characteristics" of word choice and sentence structure in this sentence are completely different from those of Jiang Xingye.

Zhou Yue.

Is it him?

45 minutes have passed.

The end of the world is coming.

At the last moment, Lin Xu gave the order:

“Academician Wang, I am now granting you the highest level of access to the GOHEPA device in my capacity as a butterfly.”

"Under no circumstances should you turn on the GOHEPA device."

"Understood. I will issue the order immediately."

Wang Yifan's decisive voice came from the speaker.

Lin Xu waited anxiously.

Time was ticking away, and he couldn't even concentrate on reading the technical information in the documents.

He had a very bad feeling.

The so-called "proactive channel plan" will likely still be activated.

That's one.
The project has slipped out of control!

And sure enough.

Less than a minute after Wang Yifan gave the order, his voice rang out again through the loudspeaker.

"Rebellion!"

"This is a rebellion!"

"GOHEPA is out of control!"

"Butterfly! Terminate system control!"

That's too late.

The images transmitted via the quantum communication device show that GOHEPA has been activated.

That crimson plasma storm had already engulfed the entire Earth.
-
But, almost at the same instant.

A beam of photons suddenly appeared from an unknown void, traversed the vast universe, and reached the quantum communicator of the Yinghuo Palace space station.

This beam of photon carried Shen Li's last words.

There's nothing here!

(End of this chapter)