Lin Xu

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Lin Xu (林序)
Alias(es)	ZEROTH; Butterfly 245 350 553
Species/Race	Human; later undergoes dimensional ascension 201
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Skyvault Technology; Coordination Group; Butterfly Contingency Plan 36 126 200
Occupation/Role	Flight-control engineer; technical strategist; leader and information carrier for cross-world projects 36 77 200
First Appearance	Chapter 7, “Build a Space Shuttle?”

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Higher-dimensional experiencer	76	National Security identifies Lin Xu as a person connected to the Solar Ring whose information is unusually detailed and intuitive.
Enhanced neural development	144	Cognitive testing reveals unusual neural characteristics; Guo Aixia provides a personalized method to improve his information-acquisition speed.
Dimensional ascension	201	Lin Xu recognizes that repeated contact with high-dimensional passages has transformed his mind, greatly improving memory, comprehension, and problem-solving. His IQ test result is 174.
Pseudo-fourth-dimensional civilization / Stone of Destiny	340	Jiang Xingye explains that Lin Xu’s world is the center of fourth-dimensional development; he can acquire vast information and exert unusually complete influence over lower dimensions.
ZEROTH	350	Lin Xu openly claims the identity of ZEROTH when questioning Yu Shiliang.
Active high-dimensional traversal	440	Having broken free of his earlier passive state, Lin Xu can move through high-dimensional space, turn time, traverse space, and descend into other worlds in material form.
Butterfly / universal-scale control	553	Lin Xu perceives and controls the universe, cools Earth, engineers the Moon’s creation, and guides the emergence of life.

Background

Lin Xu initially uses the bracelet to move between reality and Bracelet World, extracting technical knowledge that his own world lacks. He spends a night compiling the Star Traveler One project material into a preliminary design proposal, earning the interest of Skyvault Technology’s leadership despite the document’s flaws 8. His early priorities are to verify the relationship between reality and Bracelet World, advance Star Traveler One, and determine why Jiang Xingye saved him in another world 9.

His technical work quickly expands beyond spacecraft design. Lin Xu tracks down clues concerning Xu Jin and advanced materials, shares the findings with Jiang Xingye and Ren Jian, and helps bring PEEK-RTM and MX46 toward industrial use 23 73. Skyvault later intends to make him legal representative of a new subsidiary responsible for procurement and recruitment, though Lin Xu initially keeps the promotion confidential while continuing flight-control work 36.

As the Solar Ring, Planetary Reincarnation, and high-dimensional passages become increasingly central threats, Lin Xu shifts from an engineer solving isolated technical problems into a strategic coordinator. He works with Qin Feng and official institutions, argues for major investments in probes, observatories, defenses, research institutions, and the ultra-long-range manned spacecraft Star Traveler One 77. His investigations uncover the links among Jiang Xingye’s influence, Zhou Yue’s cross-world movements, and the larger struggle over humanity’s future 94 107.

Personality

Lin Xu is methodical, pragmatic, and intensely task-oriented. He records clues, turns them into prioritized plans, and repeatedly narrows complex crises into concrete objectives he can act upon 9 264 326. Even when prominent scientists treat him as an exceptional authority, he avoids grandstanding and insists that his priority is solving problems rather than appearing impressive 200.

He is willing to make severe decisions when he believes they are necessary to protect a world’s future, including authorizing coercive operations against threats such as Teakrit 515. However, he does not see power as a justification for personal rule. In contrast to Zhang Liming’s faith in elite groups, Lin Xu places greater faith in the strength of ordinary people and regards public participation as necessary for humanity’s survival 283.

Repeated high-dimensional experiences make him increasingly aware of the danger of losing his human identity. Although he accepts that dimensional ascension may be inevitable, he fears becoming detached from humanity and struggles with what it means to no longer be entirely human 201.

Abilities & Skills

High-Dimensional Traversal

Lin Xu can enter Bracelet World and later navigate high-dimensional passages directly. His early crossings are limited by the bracelet’s available entry count, but he eventually gains the ability to move through high-dimensional space on his own initiative 83 440.

• Transfers technical knowledge, intelligence, and historical clues between worlds.
• Can enter alternate timelines and worlds in material form 440 461.
• Learns to identify stable passages and use them to reach planned temporal locations 503.
• Encounters risks from timeline branching, world destruction, and the destabilizing effects of excessive information 440 510.

Dimensional Ascension

Repeated exposure to high-dimensional information changes Lin Xu’s brain and cognition. His memory becomes more precise, technical knowledge organizes itself into complex logical structures, and he develops the ability to understand fields far outside his original specialization 201 496.

• Rapidly comprehends advanced physics, mathematics, materials science, and engineering.
• Retains and reconstructs complex manufacturing processes from Bracelet World 152 201.
• Provides physicists with insights into high-dimensional channels, reverse permeation, and the Great Filter’s loophole 200.
• Scores 174 on an IQ test after his cognitive changes are assessed 201.
• His transformation is irreversible and raises concerns over his continued connection to humanity 201 496.

Strategic Analysis and Technological Planning

Lin Xu excels at linking scattered clues into operational plans. He identifies patterns in Zhou Yue’s movements, the Lanshi Project, Mnemosyne Technology, Boundary Defects, and the Correctors’ long-term strategy 107 164 178 439.

• Converts information gathered from alternate worlds into industrial and research priorities.
• Drafts large-scale plans, including a three-year industrial upgrade proposal and Low-Entropy Lead development strategy 224 503.
• Recognizes people with potentially decisive future roles and brings them into relevant projects, including Xie Qing and Su Yuchen 260 513.
• Delegates responsibilities rather than attempting to personally control every project 141 439.

Command and Combat

Though originally a flight-control engineer, Lin Xu becomes capable of directing emergency operations and fighting alongside security personnel in alternate-world crises 122 126.

• Uses firearms and protective equipment during the Vermilion Bird One mutiny 122 126.
• Directs personnel under battlefield conditions and rapidly issues command decisions.
• Holds his own in a close-quarters fight against Qi Yuan despite appearing physically unremarkable 462.
• His combat demeanor causes others to view him as someone shaped by real warfare 122.

Reality Engineering

After reaching the Butterfly stage, Lin Xu gains control over cosmic-scale physical processes 553.

• Cools an overheated primordial Earth.
• Selects Theia and causes its collision with Earth to create the Moon.
• Regulates Earth’s axial tilt and tides through the Moon’s formation.
• Creates the Boötes Void during experiments on distant galaxies.
• Oversees the formation of Earth’s crust, atmosphere, oceans, and early life 553.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Bracelet / wristband — Enables his early entries into Bracelet World and displays a limited number of available crossings 83 110.
• Notebook and clue files — Used to preserve intelligence, technical processes, priorities, and cross-world plans immediately after each return 9 152 264.
• Firearms and ballistic gear — Used during the Vermilion Bird One crisis and other hostile operations 122 126.
• Butterfly Contingency Plan interface — Grants him access to intelligence and, in some worlds, command authority over major operations 126 180 310.

Relationships

• Jiang Xingye — Lin Xu’s closest collaborator and an important emotional anchor. He investigates her role as Pollen, relies on her insight into high-dimensional phenomena, and entrusts her with responsibilities when he enters dangerous worlds 107 119 439.
• Qin Feng — National Security officer, operational partner, and trusted protector. Qin Feng supports Lin Xu’s decisions, helps investigate threats, and remains responsible for security and coordination during Lin Xu’s absences 77 178 310.
• Bai Mo — Fellow high-dimensional experiencer and professional ally. She assists Lin Xu’s investigations, helps activate the Butterfly Contingency Plan, and contributes analysis of high-dimensional psychological effects 66 180 510.
• Zhang Liming — Scientific collaborator whose alternate-world counterparts become some of Lin Xu’s most dangerous ideological and strategic opponents. Lin Xu values Zhang Liming’s ability but believes he must be restrained by others 231 455.
• Qi Yuan / Skullhead — Initially encounters Lin Xu with suspicion, but later becomes a capable ally and security partner. Their relationship develops through repeated joint operations and direct combat 37 462 463.
• Ayana — A crucial high-dimensional information carrier with multiple personalities. Lin Xu investigates her connection to Mnemosyne Technology and Zhang Liming, later seeking to free her from imposed restrictions 238 257 529.
• Xu Jin — Materials researcher whose work becomes central to advanced-material development. Lin Xu follows Xu Jin’s clues early and later expects his work in high-dimensional materials to produce major results 23 319.

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Star Traveler One development — Lin Xu uses Bracelet World knowledge to produce an early project proposal, refine technical direction, and push the ultra-long-range spacecraft into official priority status 8 77 83.
• Planetary Reincarnation investigation — He traces links among Xu Jin, Zhurong, Jiang Xingye, Zhou Yue, and the organization’s hidden core 23 37 94 107.
• Vermilion Bird One and the Butterfly Contingency Plan — In Bracelet World, Lin Xu gains authority aboard Vermilion Bird One, confronts mutiny and apocalypse scenarios, and repeatedly refines his response through trial and error 120 126 180.
• Mnemosyne and Lanshi Project conflict — He exposes the threat of personality manipulation, investigates David Julius and Ayana, and determines that Zhou Yue is being used within a larger multi-world project 159 164 178.
• Dimensional ascension — Lin Xu’s growing intellect becomes impossible to explain through ordinary learning. He accepts that his mind is ascending dimensions while attempting to retain his human perspective 200 201.
• Alliance Era and Correctors operations — He enters worlds shaped by Zhang Liming and the Correctors, prevents the Lop Nur Super Ring disaster, frees Ayana, and acquires Limiter and high-dimensional technology 269 297 310.
• Boundary Defect exploration — Lin Xu learns that Boundary Defects can edit reality, transmit matter, act as beacons, and help analyze the high-dimensional Boundary. He begins questioning whether he is unique or merely one result of countless repetitions 439.
• Cross-world intervention — He traverses new worlds, negotiates with hostile factions, assists efforts to overturn destructive path dependence, and coordinates technological support across dimensions 440 462 503.
• Creation of life — As Butterfly, Lin Xu takes responsibility for shaping a primordial Earth and patiently guides it from molten ruin to the first living cells 553.

Notable Quotes

“I only want to solve problems.” 200

“I am ZEROTH now.” 245

“In this world, your opponent is me.” 285

Trivia

• Lin Xu’s original profession is flight-control engineering, yet his later knowledge encompasses advanced mathematics, high-energy physics, materials science, high-dimensional theory, and industrial planning 36 200 260.
• His IQ test score after dimensional ascension is 174 201.
• In alternate worlds, Lin Xu has held roles including Star Traveler One chief engineer, Vermilion Bird One captain, senior Skyvault executive, and Butterfly Contingency Plan authority figure 61 155 190.
• He considers people in alternate worlds to be real individuals rather than disposable “NPCs,” a belief that becomes central to his understanding of anchors and responsibility 134.