Free Web NovelChapter 146: Chapter 126: Cause of Death: Killed by the White-headed Eagle in South America
"What’s wrong?" Chu Bamboo noticed Lin Xia’s strange look and glanced at him, puzzled.
"N-nothing!" Lin Xia gave an awkward smile. The truth was, he just felt that Chu Bamboo had become a bit of a stranger.
After all, Chu Bamboo’s relationship with the principal had been just so-so before. Based on the conversations Chu Bamboo had relayed, Lin Xia even felt that Principal Li probably didn’t have a very good impression of him.
But now... ’It seems I was too naive! Or maybe, even though we grew up together, I still don’t truly understand Chu Bamboo?’
"Oh, right." Seeing Chu Bamboo get up, Lin Xia quickly voiced his confusion. "You’ve already established a connection with the university. It’s obvious that the company’s early development will be smooth sailing. In that case, are you still going to pursue music? And what about the sports stuff?"
’After all, the original reason for all that wasn’t to get famous, but to make money... But now, it’s pretty clear we won’t be short on cash in the future, right?’
"Of course we are." Chu Bamboo gave Lin Xia a strange look. "Dude, we’re in industry! Heavy industry. Do you know what that means? A heavy-asset company like ours can’t possibly make huge profits in the early stages. No... during the initial expansion phase, losing money is the norm."
"Internet companies, finance companies—those are the ones that can rake in tons of cash!"
Pausing for a moment, Chu Bamboo continued, "And while we can get loans, those loans will definitely have restrictions on their use. It’s not like we can just take the money and spend it however we want. Looked at from that angle, the money from music, sports, and even the stock market is fast cash that we can spend freely. They’re two different things."
"There are plenty of things to spend money on besides the company!"
"Got it." Lin Xia calmed down and rubbed his cheeks. He should have thought of that earlier, but he’d gotten a bit flustered.
"Okay, then I’ll head back and think hard about how to negotiate with Principal Li tomorrow." Lin Xia pursed his lips, glanced at Chu Bamboo, and added, "I know what you mean. I’ll handle all the talks with the principal. When it’s all done, you’ll just have to come over and sign your name... Also, don’t forget to sign the independent artist agreements for Douyin and the music apps."
Lin Xia rubbed his hands together, both nervous and excited. "I’ve already pulled a hundred thousand from the stock market! Once you sign the agreements and give me the account info, I’ll start releasing the music, buying some Dou+ promotions, and finding people to do covers to test the waters... If it’s not enough, I’ll withdraw more!"
"Don’t worry, don’t worry." Chu Bamboo made an "OK" gesture and unlocked his phone screen. "I’ll get on it right now."
...
Back at the apartment.
It was already seven in the evening.
After completing his daily transcription task as usual, Chu Bamboo hesitated for a moment before taking out a new notebook.
’This can’t go on!’ Chu Bamboo’s thoughts churned. Although he could continuously obtain information about the future through Nuwa No. 17...
...after experiencing life after life, after repeatedly questioning Nuwa and looking up intelligence, he had discovered a fatal problem.
Nuwa No. 17’s descriptions of his life were from a macro perspective.
Chu Bamboo could only learn what major events happened in which month of which year, and these were major events on a global scale, not what Chu Bamboo personally considered major.
Chu Bamboo had no idea if his other self had sensed something before he died.
Was the assassination actually because his other self had uncovered some top-secret intelligence?
Could it be...
There were too many possibilities.
’Some things can never be entered into a database!’
Chu Bamboo strongly suspected that his other selves from the previous few timelines had a deep understanding of Celestial Net.
But obviously, that knowledge could never have been recorded by Nuwa.
"Starting today, I’ll keep a daily journal!" Chu Bamboo wrote with a flourish in the notebook. "Then, I’ll enter the journal into Nuwa No. 17 as much as possible! Even if I die, I have to tell Lin Xia to enter it into Nuwa for me."
Taking a deep breath, Chu Bamboo lay back on his bed. ’I hope everything goes smoothly.’
...
He opened his eyes. A soft bed was beneath him.
Chu Bamboo pushed himself up and stared at the silvery-white walls, stunned for a moment. ’Right, I fell asleep in the Nuwa Base last night.’
Rubbing his temples, Chu Bamboo’s expression turned serious. He first scanned his surroundings. The layout of the Nuwa Base was the same as last time. ’So, she probably hasn’t detected a timeline-level change?’
"Nuwa No. 17," Chu Bamboo commanded calmly, his mind racing, "show me the feeds from the surrounding cameras."
The silvery-white wall instantly projected a grid of small squares. Seeing the bustling scenes of people coming and going in the small video feeds, Chu Bamboo breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, you can close them, Nuwa No. 17." Chu Bamboo stood up and stretched his stiff body. "Tell me, did I—or Lin Xia—leave a notebook for you? And were you instructed to tell the current me about it?"
"Commencing data retrieval... No relevant content found." Nuwa No. 17’s calm voice made Chu Bamboo freeze.
’How could that be? Did something unexpected happen? Or did Lin Xia die along with me after I died?’
Then, Chu Bamboo began his search. But his expression stiffened at the very first result.
Name: Chu Bamboo. Time of Death: April 1st, ’33. Cause of Death: Traces discovered in South America by the White-headed Eagle. Terminated on the spot on charges of terrorism.
"???" To be honest, Chu Bamboo had considered many ways to die. He’d even made a mental pie chart... at least half of the possibilities involved the classic death-by-truck scenario.
But he never, ever imagined it could happen like *this*.
’Wait, I already established that going abroad is dangerous! Why would I still go to South America?’ Chu Bamboo felt like an idiot.
Then, in the next second, Chu Bamboo’s eyelid twitched again.
Nationality: White-headed Eagle
Chu Bamboo: "???"
’What the hell? Who changed my nationality?’
Chu Bamboo found it baffling. For a fleeting moment, he even wondered if the enemy had brainwashed him. There was simply no reason for him to have done any of this.
Yes, Chu Bamboo acknowledged the White-headed Eagle’s power and their deep foundations. But this acknowledgment was for a powerful, suspected enemy, not some kind of bizarre "beacon of hope" nonsense.
Just the fact that Golden Dawn was rooted in the Europe and America World was enough reason for Chu Bamboo to never go there.
’Something’s wrong. Very wrong.’ Chu Bamboo muttered for a moment, his gaze sharpening. "Look up C Mechanical Company and Z Intelligent Company."
"C Mechanical Company. Founder: Chu Bamboo. A White-headed Eagle public company. Before the year ’32, its market capitalization was on par with Celestial Net Company. The two were neck and neck, each setting records for the highest market cap in human history."
"However, after the year ’32, the company’s founder, Chu Bamboo, exposed his flagrant ambitions and committed crimes against humanity. The International Court of Justice ruled to confiscate all his personal assets."
"On June 4th, ’33, following the death of Chu Bamboo, the C Mechanical Company shareholders’ meeting officially approved the agreement for Celestial Net Company to merge with and acquire C Mechanical Company. C Mechanical Company thus became a subsidiary of Celestial Net Company."
"Z Intelligent Company. Founder: Zhao Shao. A corporate giant from the Divine Continent. The only non-White-headed Eagle enterprise with a chance of catching up to Celestial Net Company. It brought about the second AI revolution, created the world’s first globally recognized artificial intelligence, and made contributions to the AI revolution that are hard for ordinary people to imagine."
’Z Intelligent Company is normal!’ Chu Bamboo stood up and paced back and forth. ’From this perspective, the probability of brainwashing is much lower... After all, if the enemy could do it, it’s unlikely they’d only brainwash me and leave Z alone.’
’So, I joined the White-headed Eagle Country and even made C Mechanical Company a White-headed Eagle Company based on my own personal decision?’ Chu Bamboo felt like his brain was tied in knots, almost to the point of crashing.
Slapping his cheeks, Chu Bamboo calmly detached from his emotions. He considered one possibility after another, ruling out the obviously suspicious ones. Finally, an idea flashed in his mind.
’Considering all this information, could it be that my other self wanted to go undercover in Golden Dawn?’
That seemed to be the only rational explanation.
’But my other self isn’t the kind of person to be so self-sacrificing!’
Chu Bamboo pinched the bridge of his nose. In this timeline, even without his "golden finger," his other self wouldn’t have just given up and waited to die. He would have done everything in his power to develop, hoping to survive the apocalypse on his own strength.
But trying hard was one thing!
It didn’t mean his other self would use his own life to clear a path through the minefield for the Chu Bamboo who entered the dream future.
After all, his other self was him. Chu Bamboo knew exactly what kind of person he was.
’So, what pushed him to do it?’ Chu Bamboo pondered for a long time, ruffling his hair. ’Damn it, the journal didn’t survive! Otherwise, I could have figured out a lot more.’
’Everything Nuwa can find is public information! Looking at it from my current point in time is like being one of the blind men touching an elephant.’
"Nuwa No. 17, when did Lin Xia die? What was the date of his death?" Chu Bamboo suddenly realized he hadn’t heard any information about Lin Xia.
"Lin Xia. On March 1st, ’26, he left C Mechanical Company and officially joined Z Intelligent Company. Upon joining, he became the general manager of Z Intelligent Company and made great contributions to Z Company’s expansion. Time of Death: April 2nd, ’33. Cause of Death: Unknown."
"...He died one day after me!" Chu Bamboo sighed, looking at the ceiling. ’And what the hell is ’Unknown’ supposed to mean?’
’But then again, that word itself proves his death was highly suspicious!’
After all, if he’d been hit by a truck or died of an illness, there would be no reason not to say so...
Obviously, it either meant the cause was too sensitive to be recorded, or the circumstances were so suspicious that the police couldn’t close the case.
"Right." A light bulb went off in Chu Bamboo’s head as he found the keyword. "Nuwa No. 17, when did I become a citizen of the White-headed Eagle Country?"
