Genius Playground

Imagining an elderly Zhang Yang, with white hair and a wrinkled face, Jiang Ran felt a growing sense of dread.

"Open the door first."

Sang Biao had no choice but to curse and mutter as he picked the lock.

CLICK.

The moment the lock opened, Jiang Ran yanked the iron bar door open and rushed inside.

Just as he thought.

There was someone inside.

But unfortunately... it wasn’t Zhang Yang.

It was a young man in his thirties with a crew cut, dressed in a prison uniform. He was small and abnormally gaunt.

His eyes were lifeless and his expression was vacant. He sat crouched on the bed, hugging his knees. His pupils had no focus; he stared at the air before him, yet seemed to see nothing at all.

What was most striking...

His mouth hung half-open, drool steadily trickling out and soaking a large patch of the bedding, yet he showed no reaction whatsoever.

’This is...’

’Who?’

’Where is Teacher Zhang Yang? Where did Teacher Zhang Yang go?’

He turned to face the Assassin.

"Was there ever a man named Zhang Yang here? He used to be a teacher, had white hair, was about this tall—oh, and he wore glasses. Looked to be in his sixties or seventies, nicknamed ’Bookworm’."

He rattled off all of Zhang Yang’s characteristics in one breath.

"No."

The Assassin shook his head.

"This is Cell 3. There was a short guy who lived here, and then there was you. No one else has ever come in or gone out."

Jiang Ran frowned.

’In other words...’

’Teacher Zhang Yang had never been in this prison at all.’

For a moment, he couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Because...

On the bright side, maybe Teacher Zhang Yang had seen the error of his ways, given up his research on Quantum Tunneling, and avoided prison.

On the other hand, he might be locked up in another prison. Or perhaps, because of even more in-depth research... he might have lost his life and died in some unknown place.

"Then who is this?" he asked, looking at the drooling, catatonic man.

The guy was clearly not in his right mind.

Looking closer, Jiang Ran noticed more details.

The prisoner was absurdly thin, practically skin and bones, but even so, his body was covered in injuries.

Whip marks, slashes, and stitched scars were everywhere. You could say there wasn’t a single patch of unblemished skin on him.

What was even more disturbing...

...was that his neck and arms were clearly covered in needle marks.

They were old marks, but because his skin’s ability to heal had been damaged, they had never fully faded.

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

He thought he had figured it out.

This young man must have suffered inhuman abuse or been tortured for a confession.

That was likely what had caused the brain damage and mental collapse that left him in this stupor, drooling.

"Little Genius."

The Assassin answered Jiang Ran’s question.

’This time in the Future World, besides Teacher Zhang Yang and the new criminal in Cell 4, basically nothing else has changed.’

’The Assassin is still being very cooperative, answering whatever I ask.’

"Little Genius?"

Jiang Ran was confused.

"Why do they call him that?"

’They say there’s a reason for every nickname. What could this man have possibly done to earn that one?’

"Huh? You don’t know who he is?"

Sang Biao walked over, scratching his armpit, and smacked the catatonic man on the head.

However, the man just kept drooling, showing no reaction at all. His gaze didn’t even flicker.

Sang Biao grabbed "Little Genius" by the ear, yanked him up, and forced Jiang Ran to look at his face.

"Take another look. Recognize him now?"

"No." Jiang Ran shook his head.

"Huh, you should. This kid used to be super famous. His name was all over the news, he was even in textbooks."

Sang Biao let go of his ear, shoving him back as if "Little Genius" were nothing more than a toy.

"You really don’t know him?"

"I don’t."

Jiang Ran gave up trying to talk to Sang Biao and looked directly at the Assassin.

"Who is this person, really?"

The Assassin slowly walked in.

He looked at the man drooling on the bed and let out a long sigh through his nose.

"Sang Biao wasn’t wrong. This is the genius who was once a household name. You used to see this face everywhere."

"His real name is..."

"Lu Yu."