Universe Infinite Canteen

Pointy Hat's messages were numerous but fragmented and not chronological; it took Ma Lu nearly three hours to locate them all and another hour to organize them.

Although he hoped Pointy Hat had managed to complete his thesis and graduated successfully, the evidence suggested that it was highly unlikely.

Otherwise, given his tendency to talk, there would be no reason for him to suddenly stop leaving messages.

Moreover, Ma Lu found Pointy Hat's laboratory based on the marked points.

It wasn't hard to locate, as the area was saturated with messages, and Ma Lu even saw Pointy Hat's lingering image sliding around on an office chair.

Clearly, this was his laboratory, but now the place had turned into a forest.

Ma Lu carefully searched the surrounding area and saw no facilities or signs of human habitation.

Although Pointy Hat might have arrived quite early—he must have been here over three hundred years ago—a disaster had since struck the planet, and the rapidly growing plants had destroyed many buildings, but usually, there would at least be some remnants.

The area was so cleanly cleared that there was only one possibility: it had been evacuated before the disaster struck.

Ma Lu immediately thought of that 'good friend' Pointy Hat mentioned.

It seemed that after getting rid of Pointy Hat, this person had also packed up and taken his research equipment and materials.

Since Ma Lu arrived after this person, naturally, he found nothing and could only piece together what had happened from Pointy Hat's messages.

However, he was not satisfied with just watching this play out.

Ma Lu was not familiar with The Grand Alliance, but he knew that researchers on Earth typically backed up important experimental data.

This was a valuable lesson learned from the blood and tears of countless predecessors.

Considering both this universe's plane and Earth were outside The Grand Alliance and lacked network services, Pointy Hat would have had to store the backup locally.

At this thought, Ma Lu's eyes lit up.

If the backup data truly existed, it was likely not in the laboratory, otherwise it would defeat the purpose of a backup.

In other words, it might not have been discovered and taken by the "good friend."

But where could it be hidden?

Ma Lu then glanced at the Traveler's Bracelet, which showed he had about six more hours before he needed to wrap up and head home.

That seemed like plenty of time, but if he deducted the four hours needed for his return journey, there were less than two hours left for him to act.

There were many potential hiding spots in Redstone Valley, and it was highly probable that the good friend had thoroughly searched the area more than once afterward.

If he hadn't found it, that meant Pointy Hat had hidden it really well.

Despite arriving many years later, Ma Lu had advantages over the good friend: one was the ability to review the messages left by Pointy Hat, and the other was the Chessboard Map, which greatly enhanced his search efficiency.

Pointy Hat was indiscreet but did not blabber enough to casually mention the location of the backup of important data.

However, when Ma Lu marked all the coordinates he had found on the Chessboard Map, he saw some clues.

As a research fanatic, Pointy Hat's life was very regimented; it was mostly experiment after experiment, and he handled all his personal needs in the laboratory, Ma Lu had seen him eating messily more than once.

About 10% of the marks were outside the lab, and the messages from these points were usually insignificant, either complaints about the weather, C language insults directed at his supervisor, or wishes for a beautiful girlfriend...

Ma Lu automatically filtered out these irrelevant messages. His interest lay in why Pointy Hat went outside.

If there was truly a backup location outdoors, then Pointy Hat definitely needed to periodically update the data there.

Ma Lu circled those marks and focused his search on several dense areas.

He had just reached the second area when he made a discovery.

The spot was near the riverbank, and theoretically, Pointy Hat could have gone there to collect water; however, his laboratory was equipped with a water supply system, and Ma Lu had seen Pointy Hat's transparent image drinking water.

Considering his dislike of physical activity and his lack of interest in fishing, his presence by the river appeared suspicious.

Ma Lu then saw a hidden chamber on the Chessboard Map.

The chamber was beneath a massive rock, but the rock atop it was enormously heavy, weighing millions of pounds; even when Ma Lu used his armor to enhance his strength, he still couldn't move it.

Thinking of Pointy Hat's slight frame, Ma Lu was sure he must have had a way to move the massive rock.

Password? Or a remote control?

Both solutions were bad news for Ma Lu. Meeting Pointy Hat by chance, his understanding of him was limited to the brief messages left behind; he didn't even know his birthday, much less the password he had set.

As for the remote control... that was even worse, it meant that it was highly probable it had been taken by the good friend.

Just as Ma Lu was contemplating whether to go back and bring the aircraft to try, an idea suddenly struck him, and he turned back toward Pointy Hat's laboratory.

A quarter of an hour later, Ma Lu was back in front of the massive rock, activating the playback function on the Traveler's Bracelet.

The next moment, Pointy Hat's voice came through.

"Open!"

"Unlock!"

"Open the door!"

"Enter!"

"Update!"

"Trash boss!"

By the sixth command, the rock finally reacted; with a click, it split down the middle like cracking a chestnut, revealing a dark entrance below.

"..."

Alright, it was indeed a voice command, and the content turned out to be Pointy Hat's catchphrase.

It was evident he harbored a deep grudge toward his supervisor, even setting the entrance command to the backup point to this.

Ma Lu was lucky he had been using the vocal cues left by him to synthesize potential commands for opening the door.
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The correct answer turned out to be exactly what needn't be altered.

Ma Lu didn't know how to view Pointy Hat anymore; you could say he was careless for knowing to leave a backup, amid the numerous messages he kept tight-lipped about the backup point, never mentioning it. Yet you could call him careful, as he left many signs not far from the backup point, set up voice-command entry, and even used his own catchphrase.

It gave off a feeling... simultaneously diligent and perfunctory.