No, where does this portal come from?

"Tell me, what do you want to do here?"

Chapter 8 Lin Ding'er's Cat

In response to Lin Yan's invitation and questions, Hilco walked into the pavilion and sat down.

Taking a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it and putting it in his mouth, Xierko looked at Lin Yan calmly: "I don't know your name yet."

"Lin Yan." Facing the incoming smoke, Lin Yan waved his hand lightly. A golden light burst out from his fingertips, cutting off the cigarette in Xierko's hand. "Sorry, this is a no-smoking area."

Seeing Lin Yan's display, a hint of fear flashed across Xierko's eyes. He calmly put away his cigarette and said, "So it's Mr. Lin... My name is Xierko."

"My brother said you can predict the future. Could you please tell me what will happen in the future?"

"Is this the only question you came here for?"

"That's the only problem for now." Hilco crossed his arms and looked up at Lin Yan.

Lin Yan pondered for a moment and looked at him: "I can tell you about the future, but what is the price?"

"You're different from Vander. You're a smart person. You don't think everything I do is out of kindness, do you?"

As if he had expected Lin Yan to make a similar request, Xierke spoke without hesitation: "If Mr. Lin's words can convince me, then I can agree to one of Mr. Lin's requests."

"only one?"

"How many does Mr. Lin want?" Hilco narrowed his eyes slightly.

"How about this... If my words can convince you, you agree to my three requests." Lin Yan sat on the stone bench and raised three fingers.

Looking at Lin Yan's raised finger, Xierke pondered for a moment and nodded slowly: "...I agree to your request, but the premise of these three requests is that it does not harm the interests of Dicheng."

"Don't worry~ What good will it do me to hurt Dicheng?" Lin Yan said, "Since you want to know what will happen in the future, why not listen to what I have to say next."

"...After the failed bridge attack, Vandel and you had a huge fight.

Vandel originally wanted to drown you in the water, but unfortunately he couldn't bring himself to do it. You took the opportunity to get the knife, broke free from Vandel's restraints and stabbed him with the knife.

Since this incident, you have broken with Fandel, and your only thought is revenge against Fandel."

“The second is ‘change’.

—Change by any means necessary.”

"You want to change yourself, change the city, and change everything around you."

"Your ideas are more radical than Vandel's, especially after the split. No one can restrict your ideas and methods."

"According to the original future plan, you will secretly form a new force and find a capable ally."

"The name of that ally is Singed Livik."

The moment he heard the name, Xierko's pupils shrank! His scalp felt tight...

How did he know that he had won over Singed?

Hilko's heart was beating fast, but Lin Yan continued talking.

"The reason you two formed an alliance is because you were interested in the 'weak light technology' he was researching, and he was interested in the research resources you could provide him in the future..."

"In future developments, his 'low-light technology' has made some progress.

And you will use his technology to successfully avenge your brother, Fandel, in a future event..."

"After your revenge was successful, you took control of most of the Lower City as you expected. Your career is flourishing, and your businesses are also connected with the Upper City..." At this point, Lin Yan's words stopped abruptly, as if waiting for Xierko to ask a question.

Elsewhere, Xierko pondered for a moment. Instead of asking what the city would look like after he took control of it, he asked Lin Yan an unexpected question: "So... is the future him dead?"

"Death? Isn't that what you want?"

"If I hadn't read that letter, I would have been happy knowing that he would die in my hands in the future."

"But that's not the case anymore." Silko said, standing up and turning to look at the two little guys leaning against the window looking at this place: "The Undercity needs a 'Fandel', and it also needs a Silko."

"For Felicia's two children... and for the Undercity, Fandel cannot die."

"I've thought a lot after reading that letter... Vandel is at fault, and so am I."

"If he can admit his mistakes, then so can I. After all, it's not shameful to bow down before the truth.

On the contrary, only by recognizing your mistakes can you make progress." Xierko stood up and turned to look at Lin Yan, who was sitting opposite him.

"So, you don't plan to kill Vander?" Lin Yan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t kill… The most important thing in life is to learn to let go.

Hatred can indeed empower others, but it also deprives people of their most important quality: rationality. "Silko raised his index finger and tapped his head.

"But there's one thing I don't quite understand. How did Mr. Lin know that when I was looking for Singed, I was sure no one was following me?"

"Is it really as Mr. Lin said?... Predicting the future?" Hillco looked Lin Yan up and down, but it was obvious that after Lin Yan mentioned 'Glimmer', 'Singed', and his future plans, he had completely believed that the 'arcanist' in front of him was not just a facade.

Facing Xierko's question, Lin Yan simply shrugged and said two words: "Keep it secret."

"..."

Faced with Lin Yan's words, Hilco had no idea what to do.

"So, besides wanting to know how I know the future, do you have any other questions?" Lin Yan looked at Hilco who seemed to be lost in thought and asked.

After hearing this, Xierke paused for a moment and said, "...I believe in the future you described, Mr. Lin, but I have one last question for you."

"Please speak." Lin Yan's eyes fell on Hilko, and Hilko's eyes gradually became deeper as time passed.

Suddenly, he spoke up: "Excuse me... Is the future that Mr. Lin mentioned predetermined or undetermined?"

The hidden meaning of this sentence is not as shallow as it seems.

The subtext of Hillco's words is actually asking: if the future is already determined, then you cannot escape it even if you try your best, so struggling is useless, it is better not to struggle. But if the future is uncertain, then how can we talk about the real future?

As someone who often watched "Analysis of the Subtext of Leadership" and listened to "Qi Tongwei's Little Song" throughout his life, Lin Yan naturally understood what Silko meant.

So he said:

"The future I'm talking about is just one of the countless branches of the timeline. There's no such thing as the established and the undetermined."

“In other words, the future is like putting a cat in a box with alchemical poison. If the alchemical poison is triggered, the cat will be poisoned to death, but whether the alchemical poison will be triggered is unknown.

If you want to know whether the cat is alive or dead, you need to open the box and observe it.

When there is no macroscopic observation, you will never know whether the cat is dead or alive, and it will always be in a superposition state of life and death.

“The same will be true in the future.”

“Every step you take is in a superposition state of the established and the undetermined.

How the future develops depends on how you proceed."

"understand?"

Chapter 9 Become the shadow of the bottom city...Silco

Although Silko loved literary books, he had never heard of Lin Yan's theory of "Lin Ding'e's cat".

This mixture of philosophy and science left Silko stunned.

It is neither undetermined nor established, but a superposition of established and undetermined...

Hilco fell into deep thought.

Lin Yan saw that the CPU of the computer opposite him was running at high speed, and his head was almost smoking. He quickly waved his hand to interrupt Xierko's thinking.

"Hey, hey, hey... Xierko." Lin Yan raised his hand and waved it in front of Xierko's eyes. "If you are interested in this question, it's not too late to think about it later."

"Now, can you listen to my request?" After hearing what Lin Yan said, Hilco quickly came back to his senses.

He raised his hand to signal Lin Yan to continue, and Hilco was mentally prepared, fearing that Lin Yan would make some excessive demands.

"Since you are willing to give everything for Dicheng, then - become Dicheng's shadow." Lin Yan raised his eyes slightly and looked at Xierko, a gleam of light flashed in his black eyes.

"What do you mean?" Hilco was a little confused, but Lin Yan waved at Hilco, motioning him to come closer.

Hilco approached Lin Yan with doubt, and then he spoke.

“Where there is light, there is darkness. There needs to be someone standing in the light to enjoy the glory, and there needs to be someone hiding in the darkness to enjoy the solitude.

And this person is you." As he spoke, Lin Yan stood up and walked behind Xierko, placing his hands heavily on Xierko's shoulders.

The sudden pressure made Hilco's breathing hitch, but he didn't look back.

Seeing that Xierko was waiting for the next words, Lin Yan continued, "Vander was too indecisive. After the blow he suffered from this incident, he no longer had the same drive as before.

If this continues, Dicheng will be swallowed up by other forces sooner or later."

"You don't want the base city to become a playground for other forces, do you?"

The other forces that Lin Yan mentioned were actually the 'Gorask Industries' that did not appear in the Battle of the Two Cities, as well as the other alchemy barons who secretly controlled the bottom city.

As for the reason why 'Gorask Industries' did not appear in the Battle of the Two Cities?

Needless to say?

The release date of Two Cities 1 is 2021, and Renata Golask is made into a hero and will appear in the game in 2022...

There's no way she could appear in the Battle of the Two Cities.

Just because he doesn't appear in the plot doesn't mean that there is no such person in Dicheng.

After several investigations, Lin Yan determined that Golask's industry had long been like a seed, deeply buried in the base city, taking root and sprouting.

Although he didn't know whether it was Renata who was in charge of Golask Industries now, he was certain that this force did exist in the bottom city, and there was even a "Gorask Avenue" named after Golask in the bottom city.

Such ambitious people are difficult to control.

Therefore, Renata, the oligarch of the Dicheng financial tycoon, was never included in Lin Yan's plan.

"Silko, you are capable and ambitious. In some respects, you are indeed far superior to Vander." A charming voice sounded in Silkko's ears. "That's why it's easier for you to build a career after fading into the shadows."

"After all, you know~ When doing things in public, you always have to follow the rules and abide by some random rules. But it's different in secret, you can still let go." Lin Yan smiled and raised his eyebrows.

After hearing Lin Yan's request, Hilco fell into a brief silence.

"Mr. Lin, you who can say all this seem to be more ambitious than me..." Hillcole turned his head with his one eye and looked at Lin Yan.

After hearing what Hilco said, Lin Yan said nothing, but just spread his hands without comment.

-Ambition?

-Heh... What kind of ambitions can a small city give rise to?

Their eyes met, and Hilco spoke again, "It's just... Mr. Lin, rather than hiding in the shadows, I actually want to be a hero standing in the light, helping the people of Dicheng change their lives."

hero?

"Well said! But... can a 'hero' really change Dicheng?" Lin Yan chuckled. "Besides, what do you have to be a hero? Your fists? Or this frail body?"

"Do you really think that bringing something like Shimmer to light too early will bring you any benefits?"

"If you release the glimmer too early, you and Vandel will only be greeted by the intervention of capital forces.

By then, you may not be the only one who has the final say on the glimmer of light.”

Hearing Lin Yan's slightly sarcastic words, Hilco fell silent again.

Just as he was silent, Lin Yan spoke again: "Silco, who says that only those who stand in the light are heroes?"

"What do you think?"

"This hero standing in the darkness." Lin Yan stretched out the last two syllables of the word, staring straight at Hilco who was lost in thought.

Think for a moment.

Hilco looked up.

"what should I do?"

"It's simple, just continue with your development plan." Lin Yan pointed out the next path for him.

"Singed's research on 'Glimmer' is promising, but it has significant side effects.

If you can improve the side effects of the glimmer and make use of it, you can easily create an underground empire of your own."

"With this foundation, whether it's fighting against the upper city or changing the lower city, it can play a good role."

"If you want to help Fandel, it's not impossible to provide some support in secret."