Gao Jun

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Gao Jun (高峻)
Alias(es)	Gao Peng — an identity adopted by a Gao Jun from the β=0.8 Worldline after arriving in the early 1980s 479
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Dormitory 330; Su Yuan's jade-energy research circle; Huaxin Technology as Gao Peng 18 182 479
Occupation/Role	Student inventor and computer builder; energy and temporal-technology researcher; creator of time machines in divergent futures 153 182 464 479
Status	Varies by Worldline; the β=1.2 Gao Jun is deceased, while a β=0.8 counterpart survives into the epilogue account 471 479
First Appearance	Chapter 18

Background and History

Dormitory 330

Gao Jun is one of Su Yuan and Ji Yehao's close friends in Dormitory 330. He frequently joins their teasing and arguments, including proposing that Su Yuan deceive Peng Jie as payback for his behavior. Su Yuan considers him less objectionable than Peng Jie but still calls him a “perverted little fatty.” 18

He immediately develops an attraction to Xia Linfei upon meeting her, announcing that he intends to pursue her. Rather than giving up when uncertain about his chances, he resolves to continue pursuing her, with Su Yuan offering to coach him. 46 53

After learning that Su Yuan is his cousin, Gao Jun becomes intensely pleased with the new family connection and repeatedly emphasizes their cousinhood. His mother, Zhou Wan, asks him to look after Su Yuan when they begin living under the same roof. 161 163

Inventor and Researcher

Gao Jun moves into Xia Linfei's home with an extensive collection of tools, including a soldering iron, copper coils, a voltage regulator, a digital megohmmeter, and a power-frequency signal generator. His belongings take over the smaller living room as a dedicated workspace. 153

His long-running “second-generation” invention is a heavy circular metal frame with an equilateral triangle set within it, intricate circuitry, and fine components. He began its development in high school and does not initially know its purpose, but insists that the work has taught him extensively about electronic components. 161

He later builds a powerful DIY workstation with integrated management-and-control functions. The workstation successfully boots, but is destroyed when water activates the jade hidden in a washing machine and releases a destructive energy burst. Gao Jun remains focused on salvaging its costly components rather than abandoning the project. 164 174 178

Gao Jun subsequently converts the jade's energy into electric current. He leads the group's proposed next steps: measuring the current, building an enclosure to capture released energy, and analyzing the jade's composition. 182

Worldlines and Temporal Research

Gao Jun studies temporal theory extensively. He lectures Su Yuan and Ji Yehao on conventional time-machine proposals, then argues that quantum non-locality may permit information to be transmitted into the past. Xia Linfei challenges most of his proposed physical mechanisms as impractical. 274

His initial design is not a complete time machine: it can only send information backward within a single Worldline. Alien data provides the group with a theoretical framework for maintaining quantum entanglement and extending the temporal span of an interference system. 276

During the laboratory attack, Gao Jun throws the backpack containing Gaia at an attacker and charges forward after Su Yuan is shot. He is severely injured in the ensuing shootout. 315

Although initially skeptical of Su Yuan's claims that she has jumped Worldlines, he ultimately accepts her testimony and supports the group’s attempt to change the future. He later accepts the broader truth about Worldlines, alien technology, and divergent apocalyptic futures after Su Yuan and Xia Linfei explain it to him. 320 322 422

Divergent-Future Counterparts

In the β=1.2 future, Gao Jun becomes a leading scientist at Haizhou Base. As the base faces attack by technologically enhanced enemies, he activates an untested time machine with Shen Linfei despite its overloaded safety readings. 463 464

The machine sends him to December 27, 1993, where he saves Su Caiwei and her child from a car accident. In this Worldline, he later reunites with Su Yuan, explains that his world was devastated after Su Yuan was killed during the 2013 laboratory attack, and agrees to help manage Huaxin Technology. 464 465 466

A β=0.8 Gao Jun is recovered from a fragment world by Su Yuan and brought aboard the Eternity. Working with her, he dismantles and studies Time Energy Engines, eventually developing a first-generation time machine capable of traveling within one Worldline and a theoretical second-generation machine capable of jumping between Worldlines. 479

The second-generation machine crashes in the early 1980s. Gao Jun survives, adopts the alias Gao Peng, establishes Huaxin Technology, cooperates with military and overseas partners, and later receives instructions concerning the Absolute Timeline and Shen Linfei. He leaves a letter for his future self: “Follow the plan in all things. Wishing everyone happiness!” 479

Appearance

Gao Jun is nearly 1.8 meters tall and is initially noted for wearing clean clothes. Later depictions of an older Worldline counterpart describe stubble, visible aging, and a “melancholic uncle” air. 46 464 465

• Su Yuan derisively calls him a “perverted little fatty” during their early dormitory banter. 18
• As a child in the epilogue, he is described as chubby. 479
• A young-adult β=0.8 counterpart is of average build and dresses simply. 479

Personality

Gao Jun is excitable, competitive, and easily flustered by Xia Linfei or by perceived slights from his friends. He becomes jealous when Su Yuan buys Ji Yehao clothing but not him, and he eagerly collects Su Yuan's photographs after discovering they are cousins. 55 162

He is exceptionally persistent with technical work. Even when his inventions repeatedly fail or diverge from their intended goal, he treats the process as a source of knowledge rather than a reason to stop. His optimism can make him reckless, but it also enables him to continue working after expensive setbacks. 153 161 178

Despite his lecherous jokes and habit of showing off, Gao Jun is protective of those close to him. He reacts violently when Su Yuan is shot, agrees to safeguard her secrets, and becomes a dependable partner when confronting the consequences of Worldline changes. 315 423 466

Abilities & Skills

Electronics and Computer Engineering

Gao Jun is highly capable with electronic hardware, custom computing systems, and technical repairs.

• Builds a high-performance workstation from individual components and successfully boots it after resolving design concerns about cooling and power consumption. 164 174
• Recognizes high-end computer hardware and workstation-grade laptops immediately. 47
• Assists Su Yuan with a compromised computer system after she claims it was attacked by a hacker. 167
• Works with Ji Yehao to investigate unusual references in a supercomputer manual. 234
• Completes the Worldline Sniffer several years before using it to read a β-value of 1.000122. 479

Energy Research

Gao Jun applies his technical background to the investigation of alien-derived energy.

• Explains conventional energy-storage metrics and recognizes the jade’s storage method as far beyond known terrestrial technology. 185
• Successfully converts energy released by the jade into electric current. 182
• Proposes measuring, containing, and analyzing the jade's energy before expanding the research effort. 182

Temporal Engineering

Gao Jun develops increasingly sophisticated theories and machines relating to time and Worldlines.

• Presents theoretical approaches involving relativistic motion, black holes, wormholes, cosmic strings, and quantum non-locality. 274
• Designs an information-transmission device that can send data to the past but cannot physically traverse a single Worldline. 276
• Creates a complete but untested time machine in the β=1.2 future and activates it under battlefield conditions. 463 464
• Develops first- and second-generation time machines aboard the Eternity; the latter can jump Worldlines but is launched without practical testing. 479

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Second-generation metal frame — A circular, component-filled structure with an equilateral triangle at its center; Gao Jun develops it from high school onward without initially knowing its function. 161
• DIY workstation — A self-built high-performance computer with exposed wiring and custom-soldered connectors; destroyed by the jade-energy explosion. 174 178
• Worldline Sniffer — A device Gao Jun completes to measure Worldline values. 479
• Time machines — Includes the β=1.2 machine activated during the fall of Haizhou Base and the first- and second-generation machines developed aboard the Eternity. 464 479

Relationships

• Su Yuan — Close friend turned cousin; they bicker constantly, collaborate on jade and temporal research, and Gao Jun protects her during the laboratory attack. 161 182 315
• Ji Yehao — Dormitory 330 friend, housemate, and technical collaborator; the two discuss computing hardware and later study alien spatial data together. 164 174 423
• Xia Linfei — Gao Jun pursues her from their first meeting; she later works alongside him on the jade and Worldline research. 46 53 182
• Shen Linfei / Xia Linfei — In a divergent future, Gao Jun is her adoptive father and collaborates with her when activating the time machine. 381 463 471
• Gao Xiang — Father; director of the Binhe Military Science and Technology Research Institute. 161 185
• Zhou Wan — Mother; a professor who expects Gao Jun to take responsibility for Su Yuan after their families become connected. 161 163
• Su Caiwei — In divergent futures, Gao Jun saves her and her child after a 1993 car accident; she later entrusts him with helping stabilize Huaxin Technology. 464 466

Notable Quotes

“Inventions are always born from countless deviations and errors. Besides, because of this metal frame, I've gained immense knowledge in mastering electronic components!” 161

“The me from the other world was truly manly!” 471

Trivia

• Gao Jun's high-school metal frame closely resembles the core structure of a Time Energy Engine, though he cannot remember what originally inspired its design. 479
• His pendant bears a circular design containing an equilateral triangle, matching the central motif of his early invention. 479
• His β=1.2 counterpart's death is a source of grief for Shen Linfei, whom that counterpart raised as a daughter. 471